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THE  STORY  OF  THE 
PULLMAN  CAR 


GEORGE  MORTIMER  PULLMAN 
1831— 1897 


The  Story  of  the 
Pullman  Car 


BY 

JOSEPH  HUSBANdJII/ 

Author  of  "  America  at  Work  "  and  **  A  Year  in  a 
Coal-Mine." 


ILLUSTRATED 


■    mmm  mnAsm  uwemm 

CHICAGO 
A.  C.  McCLURG  &  CO. 

1917 


Copyright 

A.  C.  McCLURG  &  CO. 

1917 


Publisbed    May,    1917 


W.  f.  HALL  PRINTING  COMPANY,  CHICAGO 


To 
George  ilorttmtr  ^uUman 


ACKNOWLEDGMENT 

OF  THE  many  books  from  which  infor- 
mation was  drawn  for  the  preparation 
of  this  volume  the  author  wishes  to  make 
particular  acknowledgment  to  ^he  Modern 
Railroad,  by  Mr.  Edward  Hungerford,  to 
the  article  "  Railway  Passenger  Travel,"  by 
Mr.  Horace  Porter,  published  in  Scribnefs 
Magazine,  September,  1888;  and  to  Contem- 
porary American  Biography,  as  well  as  to  the 
many  newspapers  and  magazines  from  whose 
files  information  and  extracts  have  been  freely 
drawn.  J.  H. 

Chicago,  April,  1917 


CONTENTS 


Chapter  Page 

I     The  Birth  of  Railroad  Transportation     .     .  I 

II     The  Evolution  of  the  Sleeping  Car     ...  19 

III  The  Rise  of  a  Great  Industry 39 

IV  The  Pullman  Car  in  Europe 61 

V    The  Survival  of  the  Fittest 73 

VI    The  Town  of   Pullman 89 

VII     Inventions  and   Improvements 99 

VIII     How  the  Cars  are  Made 123 

IX     The  Operation  of  the  Pullman  Car     .     .     .  133 

Index 159 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

George  Mortimer  Pullman Frontispiece 

One  of  the  earliest  types  of  American  passenger  car       .  8 

First  locomotive  built  for  actual  service  in  America       .  9 

Early  passenger  cars 1 1 

American  ''  Bogie  "  car  in  use  in  1835         ....  12 

Cars  and  locomotive  of  1845 ^4- 

Car  in  use  in  1844 .20 

Car  of  1831 21 

Midnight  in  the  old  coaches 23 

"  Convenience  of  the  new  sleeping    cars "    .       .       .       .24 

Early  type  of  sleeping  car 28 

J.  L.  Barnes,  first  Pullman  car  conductor     ....  32 

One  of  the  first  cars  built  by  George  M.  Pullman       .       .  42 

The  car  in  the  daytime 42 

Making  up  the  berths 42 

George  M.  Pullman  explaining  details  of  car  construction  46 

One  of  the  first  Pullman  cars  in  which  meals  were  served  52 

The  first  parlor  car,  1875 58 

Interior  of  Pullman  car  of  1880 64 

The  rococo  period  car 68 

More  ornate  interiors 74 

The  latest  Pullman  parlor  car      .            ^6 

First  step  in  building  the  car 84 

Fitting  the  car  for  steam  and  electricity       ....  90 

Work  on  steel  plates  for  inside  panels         ....  90 

Preparing  the  steel  frame  for  an  upper  section    ...  94 

Sand  blasting  brass  trimmings     . 94 

Machine  section,  steel  erecting  shop 100 

Fitting  up  the  steel  car  underframe 100 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

Making  cushions  for  the  seats 104 

Making  chairs  for  parlor  cars     .       .       .       .       .       ,       .  104 

Making  frame  end  posts .106 

Assembling  steel  car  partitions 106 

The  vestibule  in  its  earliest  form 108 

Axle  generator  for  electric  lighting  .  .  .  ,  ,  .110 
The  sewing  room,  upholstering  department    .       .       .       .114 

Forming  steel  parts  for  interior  finish 118 

Forming  steel  shapes  for  interior  framing    .       .      .       .118 

Punching  holes  for  screws 124 

Shaping  steel  panelling 124 

Riveting  the  underframe 126 

Steel  end  posts  in  position 126 

Type  of  early  truck 128 

Modern  cast-steel  truck    .........  128 

Ready  for  the  interior  fittings .  130 

Interior  work 130 

Pullman  sleeping  car,  latest  design 134 

Front  end  of  a  private  car  dining  room        ....  136 

Rear  end  of  a  private  car  dining  room 136 

Robert  T.  Lincoln,  ex-President 138 

Bedroom  of  a  private  car 142 

Observation  section  of  a  private  car 142 

Modern  Pullman  steel  sleeping  car  ready  for  the  night  .  146 
Modern  Pullman  steel  sleeping  car  during  the  day  .  .  146 
Cleaning  and  disinfecting  the  Pullman  car  ....  152 
John  S.  Runnells,  President 156 


I 

The  Birth  of  Railroad  Transportation 


THE  STORY  OF  THE 

PULLMAN  CAR 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  BIRTH  OF  RAILROAD  TRANSPORTATION 

SINCE  those  distant  days  when  man's  migratory 
instinct  first  prompted  him  to  find  fresh  hunt- 
ing fields  and  seek  new  caves  in  other  lands, 
human  energy  has  been  constantly  employed  in 
moving  from  place  to  place.  The  fear  of  starvation 
and  other  elementary  causes  prompted  the  earliest 
migrations.  Conquest  followed,  and  with  increas- 
ing civilization  came  the  establishment  of  constant 
intercourse  between  distant  places  for  reasons  that 
found  existence  in  military  necessity  and  commer- 
cial activity. 

For  centuries  the  sea  offered  the  easiest  highway, 
and  the  fleets  of  Greece  and  Rome  carried  the  cul- 
ture and  commerce  of  the  day  to  relatively  great 
distances.  Then  followed  the  natural  development 
of  land  communication,  and  at  once  arose  the  neces- 

[I] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

sity  not  only  for  vehicles  of  transportation  but  for 
suitable  roads  over  which  they  might  pass  with  com- 
fort, speed,  and  safety.  Over  the  Roman  roads  the 
commerce  of  a  great  empire  flowed  in  a  tumultuous 
stream.  Wheeled  vehicles  rumbled  along  the 
highways — heavy  springless  carts  to  carry  the  mer- 
chandise, lightly  rolling  carriages  for  the  comfort  of 
wealthy  travelers. 

The  elementary  principle  still  remains.  The 
wheel  and  the  paved  way  of  Roman  days  correspond 
to  the  four-tracked  route  of  level  rails  and  the  pon- 
derous steel  wheels  of  the  mighty  Mogul  of  today. 
In  speed,  scope,  capacity,  and  comfort  has  the 
change  been  wrought. 

The  English  stagecoach  marked  a  sharp  advance 
in  the  progress  of  passenger  transportation.  With 
frequent  relays  of  fast  horses  a  fair  rate  of  speed 
was  maintained,  and  comfort  was  to  a  degree  effected 
by  suspension  springs  of  leather  and  by  interior 
upholstery. 

An  interesting  example  of  the  height  of  luxury 
achieved  by  coach  builders  was  the  field  carriage  of 
the  great  Napoleon,  which  he  used  in  the  campaign 
of  1815.    This  carriage  was  captured  by  the  English 

[2] 


BIRTH  OF  RAILROAD  TK4NSPORTATION 

at  Waterloo,  and  suffered  the  ignominious  fate  of 
being  later  exhibited  in  Madame  Tussaud's  wax- 
work show  in  London.  The  coach  was  a  model  of 
compactness,  and  contained  a  bedstead  of  solid  steel 
so  arranged  that  the  occupant's  feet  rested  in  a  box 
projecting  beyond  the  front  of  the  vehicle.  Over  the 
front  windows  was  a  roller  blind,  which,  when 
pulled  down  admitted  the  air  but  excluded  rain. 
The  secretaire  was  fitted  up  for  Napoleon  by  Marie 
Louise,  with  nearly  a  hundred  articles,  including  a 
magnificent  breakfast  service  of  gold,  a  writing  desk, 
perfumes,  and  spirit  lamp.  In  a  recess  at  the  bottom 
of  the  toilet  box  were  two  thousand  gold  napoleons, 
and  on  the  top  of  the  box  were  places  for  the 
imperial  wardrobe,  maps,  telescopes,  arms,  liquor 
case,  and  a  large  silver  chronometer  by  which  the 
watches  of  the  army  were  regulated.  In  such 
quarters  did  the  great  emperor  jolt  along  over  the 
execrable  roads  of  Eastern  Europe. 

The  stagecoach  was  established  in  England  as  a 
public  conveyance  early  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
and  soon  regular  routes  were  developed  throughout 
the  country.  Now  for  the  first  time  a  closed  vehicle 
afforded  travelers  comparative  comfort  during  their 

[3] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

journey,  and  In  the  stagecoach  with  its  definite 
schedule  may  be  seen  the  early  prototype  of  the  mod- 
ern passenger  railroad.  For  three  centuries  the 
stagecoach  slowly  developed,  and  its  popularity  car- 
ried it  to  the  continent  and  later  to  America.  But 
by  a  radical  invention  transportation  was  suddenly 
transformed. 

As  early  as  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
and  actually  contemporaneous  with  the  inception  of 
the  stagecoach,  railways,  or  wagon-ways,  had  their 
origin.  At  first  these  primitive  railways  were  built 
exclusively  to  serve  the  mining  districts  of  England 
and  consisted  of  wooden  rails  over  which  horse- 
drawn  wagons  might  be  moved  with  greater  ease 
than  over  the  rough  and  rutted  roads. 

The  next  step  forward  was  brought  about  by  the 
natural  wear  of  the  wheels  on  the  wooden  tracks, 
and  consisted  of  a  method  of  sheathing  the  rails  with 
thin  strips  of  iron.  To  avoid  the  buckling  which 
soon  proved  a  fault  of  this  innovation,  the  first  actual 
iron  rails  were  cast  in  1767  by  the  Colebrookdale 
Iron  Works.  These  rails  were  about  three  feet  in 
length  and  were  flanged  to  keep  the  wagon  wheels 
on  the  track. 

[4] 


BIRTH  OF  RAILROAD  TRANSPORTATION 

For  a  number  of  years  this  simple  type  of  railroad 
existed  with  little  change.  Over  it  freight  alone 
was  carried,  and  its  natural  limitations  and  high 
cost,  compared  with  the  transportation  afforded  by 
canals,  seemed  to  hold  but  little  promise  for  future 
expansion. 

As  early  as  1804  Richard  Trevi thick  had  experi- 
mented with  a  steam  locomotive,  and  in  the  ten 
years  following  other  daring  spirits  endeavored  to 
devise  a  practical  application  of  the  steam  engine  to 
the  railway  problem.  But  in  1814  George  Stephen- 
son's engine,  the  "Blucher,"  actually  drew  a  train  of 
eight  loaded  wagons,  a  total  weight  of  thirty  tons, 
at  a  speed  of  four  miles  an  hour,  and  the  age  of  the 
steam  railroad  had  begun. 

The  first  railroad  to  adopt  steam  as  its  motive 
power  was  the  Stockton  &  Darlington,  a  "system" 
comprising  three  branches  and  a  total  of  thirty-eight 
miles  of  track.  On  the  advice  of  Stephenson,  horse 
power  was  not  adopted  and  several  steam  engines 
were  built  to  afford  the  motive  power.  This  road 
was  opened  on  September  27,  1825,  and  preceded 
by  a  signalman  on  horseback  a  train  of  thirty-four 
vehicles  weighing  about  ninety  tons  departed  from 

[5] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

the  terminus  with  the  applause  of  the  amazed  spec- 
tators. 

The  novelty  of  this  new  venture  soon  appealed 
so  strongly  to  popular  fancy  that  a  month  later  a 
passenger  coach  was  added,  and  a  daily  schedule 
between  Stockton  &  Darlington  was  inaugurated. 

This  first  railway  carriage  for  the  transportation 
of  passengers  was  aptly  named  the  "  Experiment." 
Consisting  of  the  body  of  a  stagecoach  it  accommo- 
dated approximately  twenty-five  passengers,  of 
which  number  six  found  accommodations  within, 
while  the  others  perched  on  the  exterior  and  the 
roof  of  the  vehicle.  The  fare  for  the  trip  was  one 
shilling,  and  each  passenger  was  permitted  to  carry 
fourteen  pounds  of  baggage. 

This  early  adaption  of  the  stagecoach  to  the 
rapidly  developed  demand  for  passenger  service 
necessitated  the  coinage  of  a  new  terminology,  and 
it  is  not  surprising  that  many  words  of  stagecoach 
days  remained.  Among  these  "coach"  is  still  pre- 
served, and  in  England  the  engineer  is  still  called 
the  "driver"  ;  the  conductor,  "guard"  ;  locomotive 
attendants  in  the  roundhouse,  "hostlers,"  and  the 
roundhouse  tracks  the  "stalls." 

[6] 


BIRTH  OF  RAILROAD  TRANSPORTATION 

In  1829  a  prize  of  iive  hundred  pounds  ($2,500) 
for  the  best  engine  was  offered  by  the  directors  of 
the  Liverpool  &  Manchester  Railway  which  was 
to  be  opened  in  the  following  year,  and  at  the  trial 
which  was  held  in  October  three  locomotives  con- 
structed on  new  and  high-speed  principles  were 
entered.  These  were  the  "Rocket"  by  George  and 
Robert  Stephenson,  the  "Novelty"  by  John  Braith- 
waite  and  John  Erickson,  and  the  "Sanspareil" 
by  Timothy  Hackworth.  Due  to  the  failure  of 
the  "Novelty"  and  the  "Sanspareil"  to  complete 
the  trial  run  and  the  successful  performance  of  the 
"Rocket"  in  meeting  the  terms  of  the  competition, 
the  Stephensons  were  awarded  the  prize  and  received 
an  order  for  seven  additional  locomotives.  It  is 
interesting  to  learn  that  on  its  initial  trip  the 
"Rocket"  attained  the  unprecedented  speed  of 
twenty-five  miles  an  hour. 

In  1819  Benjamin  Dearborn,  of  Boston,  memo- 
rialized Congress  in  regard  to  "a  mode  of  propelling 
wheel-carriages"  for  "conveying  mail  and  passen- 
gers with  such  celerity  as  has  never  before  been 
accomplished,  and  with  complete  security  from  rob- 
bery on  the  highway,"  by  "carriages  propelled  by 

[7] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

steam  on  level  railroads,  furnished  with  accommoda- 
tions for  passengers  to  take  their  meals  and  rest 
during  the  passage,  as  in  packet;  and  that  they  be 
sufficiently  high  for  persons  to  walk  in  without 
stooping."   Congress,  however,   failed  to  call  this 


One  of  the  earliest  types  of  an  American  passenger  car, 
drawn  by  Peter  Cooper* s  experimental  locomotive,  **Tom  Thumb,** 
The  tubular  boilers  of  the  locomotive  were  made  from  gun  barrels. 

memorial    from    the   committee   to   which   it   was 
referred. 

The  development  of  the  locomotive  in  America 
approximates  its  development  in  England.  As  early 
as  1827  four  miles  of  track  were  laid  between 
Quincy  and  Boston  for  the  transportation  of  granite 
for  the  Bunker  Hill  Monument.    Horses  furnished 

[8] 


BIRTH  OF  RAILROAD  TRANSPORTATION 


the  power,  and  the  cars  were  drawn  over  wooden 
rails  fastened  to  stone  sleepers. 

But  reports  of  the  wonders  of  the  new  English 
railways  soon  crossed  the  water,  and  in  1828  Horatio 
Allen  was  commissioned  by  the  Delaware  &  Hudson 
Canal  Company  to  purchase  four  locomotives  in 


"  The  Best  Friend,"  the  first  locomotive  built  for  actual  service 
in  America,  hauling  the  first  excursion  train  on  the  South  Carolina 
Railroad,  January  15,  1831. 

England  for  use  on  its  new  line  from  Carbondale  to 
Honesdale,  Pennsylvania.  Of  these  locomotives 
three  were  constructed  by  Foster,  Rastrick,  .and 
Company,  of  Stourbridge,  and  one  by  George 
Stephenson.  The  first  engine  to  arrive  was  the 
"Stourbridge  Lion"  and  on  the  ninth  of  August, 

[9] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

1829,  it  was  placed  on  the  primitive  wooden  rails 
and,  to  the  amazement  of  the  spectators,  Allen 
opened  the  throttle  and  in  a  cloud  of  smoke  and 
hissing  steam  moved  down  the  track  at  the  prodi- 
gious speed  of  ten  miles  an  hour. 

One  of  the  first  railways  in  America  was  the  old 
Mohawk  &  Hudson,  which  was  chartered  by  an  act 
of  the  New  York  legislature  on  April  17,  1826.  The 
commissioners  who  were  entrusted  with  the  duty  of 
organizing  the  company  met  for  the  purpose  in  the 
office  of  John  Jacob  Astor,  in  New  York  City,  on 
July  29,  1826.  One  of  their  first  official  acts  was  to 
appoint  Peter  Heming  chief  engineer  and  send  him 
to  England  to  examine  as  to  the  feasibility  of  build- 
ing a  railroad.  Mr.  Heming's  salary  was  fixed  at 
$1,500  a  year.  In  due  course  of  time  he  returned 
from  his  European  visit  of  observation  and  reported 
in  favor  of  the  project  under  consideration.  Not- 
withstanding that  he  was  absent  six  months,  the 
expenses  of  his  trip,  charged  by  him  to  the  company, 
were  only  $335.59.  The  road  first  used  horse  power 
and  later  on  adopted  steam  for  use  in  the  day  time, 
retaining  horses,  however,  for  night  work.  It  was 
not  deemed  safe  to  use  steam  after  dark.    At  first 

[10] 


BIRTH  OF  RAILROAD  TRANSPORTATION 

the  trains  consisted  of  one  car  each,  in  construction 
closely  resembling  the  old-fashioned  stagecoach. 

The  road  connected  the  two  towns  of  Albany  and 
Schenectady,  and  was  seventeen  miles  in  length, 
but  the  portion  operated  by  steam  was  only  four- 
teen  miles   in   length,    horses   being   used   on   the 


Early  passenger  cars,  designed  after  the  then  prevalent  type  of 
horse  coach.  These  cars  were  part  of  the  train  that  ran  on  the  for- 
mal opening  of  the  Mohawk  &  Hudson  Railroad  {the  first  link  of 
the  New  York  Central  System)  on  July  5, 1831, 


inclined  plane  division  from  the  top  of  one  hill  to 
the  top  of  another. 

Three  years  later  a  prize  of  $4,000  was  offered 
by  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Company  for  an  American 
engine,  and  the  following  year  a  locomotive  con- 
structed by  Davis  and  Gastner  won  the  award  by 
drawing  fifteen  tons  at  the  rate  of  fifteen  miles  an 
hour.    In  1832,  Matthias  W.  Baldwin,  founder  of 

[II] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

the  Baldwin  Locomotive  Works  in  Philadelphia, 
designed  his  first  locomotive,  "Old  Ironsides,"  for 
the  Philadelphia,  Germantown  &  Morristown  Rail- 
road; and  soon  after  his  second  locomotive,  the  "E. 


One  of  the  first  important  improvements  made  by  America  in 
passenger  cars  was  the  introduction  of  the  **  bogie/'  or  truck;  the 
short  curves  of  the  American  roads  compelling  the  abandonment  of 
the  English  type  of  four-wheeled  car  with  rigid  axles.  The  illustra- 
tion shows  a  "bogie'*  car  used  on  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad 
in  1835. 

L.  Miller,"  was  put  in  service  on  the  South  Carolina 
Railroad. 

The  first  passenger  service  to  be  put  in  regular 
operation  in  America  must  be  credited  to  the  Charles- 
ton &  Hamburg  Railroad  in  the  late  fall  of  1830. 

[12] 


BIRTH  OF  RAILROAD  TRANSPORTATION 

The  following  year  construction  was  begun  on  the 
Boston  &  Lowell  Railroad,  and  in  the  same  year  a 
passenger  train,  previously  mentioned,  was  put  in 
service  between  Albany  and  Schenectady  on  the  new 
Mohawk  &  Hudson  Railroad. 

The  journal  of  Samuel  Breck  of  Boston,  affords 
an  interesting  glimpse  of  the  conditions  of  contem- 
porary railroad  travel: 

July  22,  1835.  This  morning  at  nine  o'clock  I  took 
passage  on  a  railroad  car  (from  Boston)  for  Providence. 
Five  or  six  other  cars  were  attached  to  the  locomotive, 
and  uglier  boxes  I  do  not  wish  to  travel  in.  They  were 
made  to  stow  away  some  thirty  human  beings,  who  sit 
cheek  by  jowl  as  best  they  can.  Two  poor  fellows  who 
were  not  much  in  the  habit  of  making  their  toilet,  squeezed 
me  into  a  corner,  while  the  hot  sun  drew  from  their  gar- 
ments a  villainous  compound  of  smells  made  up  of  salt 
fish,  tar,  and  molasses.  By  and  by  just  twelve  —  only 
twelve — bouncing  factory  girls  were  introduced,  who 
were  going  04i  a  party  of  pleasure  to  Newport.  "  Make 
room  for  the  ladies!''  bawled  out  the  superintendent. 
"  Come  gentlemen,  jump  up  on  top ;  plenty  of  room 
there !  "  "  Pm  afraid  of  the  bridge  knocking  my  brains 
out,''  said  a  passenger.  Some  made  one  excuse,  and  some 
another.  For  my  part,  I  flatly  told  him  that  since  I  had 
belonged  to  the  corps  of  Silver  Grays  I  had  lost  my  gal- 
lantry and  did  not  intend  to  move.  The  whole  twelve 
were,  however,  introduced,  and  soon  made  themselves  at 

[13] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

home,  sucking  lemons,  and  eating  green  apples.  .  .  . 
The  rich  and  the  poor,  the  educated  and  the  ignorant,  the 
polite  and  the  vulgar,  all  herd  together  in  this  modern 
improvement  in  traveling  ....  and  all  this  for  the 
sake  of  doing  very  uncomfortably  in  two  days  what 
would  be  done  delightfully  in  eight  or  ten. 

To  follow  further  the  rapid  development  of  the 
railroad  in  America  would  require  many  volumes. 


Cars  and  locomotive  in  use  on  the  Camden  &  Amboy  Rail- 
road in  1845.  The  cars  were  heated  by  wood  stoves,  the  glass  sash 
was  stationary,  and  ventilation  was  possible  only  from  a  wooden- 
panelled  window  which  could  be  raised  a  few  inches. 

As  the  canal  building  fever  had  seized  the  fancy  of 
the  American  public  in  preceding  years,  so  a  similar 
enthusiasm  was  instantly  kindled  in  the  new  rail- 
road, and  railroad  travel  became  immediately  the 
most  popular  diversion.  In  a  relatively  few  years 
a  web  of  track  carried  the  smoking  locomotive  and 
its  rumbling  train  of  cars  throughout  the  country. 
Crude,  and  lacking  almost  every  convenience  of  the 

[14] 


BIRTH  OF  RAILROAD  TRANSPORTATION 

passenger  coach  of  the  present  day,  the  early  rail- 
way carriage  served  fully  its  new-born  function.  To 
the  latter  half  of  the  century  was  reserved  the 
development  of  those  refinements  which  have  ren- 
dered travel  safe  and  comfortable,  and  the  perfecting 
of  those  vast  organizations  that  have  placed  in 
American  hands  the  railroad  supremacy  of  the  world. 


Tisl 


II 

The  Evolution  of  the  Sleeping  Car 


CHAPTER  II 

THE    EVOLUTION    OF   THE   SLEEPING   CAR 

THE  history  of  improved  railway  travel  may  be 
said  to  date  from  the  year  1836,  when  the 
first  sleeping  car  was  offered  to  the  traveling  public. 
In  the  years  which  followed  the  actual  inception  of 
the  railroad  in  th€  United  States,  railway  travel  was 
fraught  with  discomfort  and  inconvenience  beyond 
the  realization  of  the  present  day.  Travel  by  canal 
boat  had  at  least  offered  a  relative  degree  of  com- 
fort, for  here  comfortable  berths  in  airy  cabins  were 
provided  as  well  as  good  meals  and  entertainment, 
but  the  locomotive,  by  its  greatly  increased  speed 
over  the  plodding  train  of  tow  mules,  instantly  com- 
manded the  situation,  and  as  the  mileage  of  the 
pioneer  roads  increased,  travel  by  boat  propor- 
tionately languished. 

The  first  passenger  cars  were  little  better  than 
boxes  mounted  on  wheels.  Over  the  uneven  track 
the  locomotive  dragged  its  string  of  little  coaches, 
each  smaller  than  the  average  street  car  of  today. 

[19] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

From  the  engine  a  pall  of  suffocating  smoke  and 
glowing  sparks  swept  back  on  the  partially  pro- 
tected passengers.  Herded  like  cattle  they  settled 
themselves  as  comfortably  as  possible  on  the  stiff- 
backed,  narrow  benches.  The  cars  were  narrow  and 
scant  head  clearance  was  afforded  by  the  low,  flat 


Car  in  use  in  1844  on  the  Michigan  Central  Railroad.  In- 
teresting as  showing  the  rapid  improvement  in  passenger  coaches 
and  how  soon  they  approached  the  modem  ttjpe  of  car  in  general 
appearance. 

roof.  From  the  dirt  roadbed  a  cloud  of  dust  blew 
in  through  open  windows,  in  summer  mingled  with 
the  wood  smoke  from  the  engine.  In  winter,  a  wood 
stove  vitiated  the  air.  Screens  there  were  none. 
By  night  the  dim  light  from  flaring  candles  barely 
illuminated  the  cars. 

In  addition  to  these  physical  discomforts  were 
added  the  dangers  attending  the  operation  of  trains 

[20] 


EVOLUTION  OF  THE  SLEEPING  CAR 


entirely  unprotected  by  any  of  the  safety  devices 
now  so  essential  to  the  modern  railroad.  No  road 
boasted  of  a  double  track;  there  was  no  telegraph 
by  which  to  operate  the  trains.  The  air  brake  was 
unknown  until   1869,  when  George  Westinghouse 


Car  constructed  by  M.  P.  and  M.  B.  Green  of  Hoboken,  New 
Jersey,  in  1831  for  the  Camden  &  Amboy  Railroad. 

received  his  patent.  The  Hodge  hand  brake  which 
was  introduced  in  1849  was  but  a  poor  improvement 
on  the  inefficient  hand  brake  of  the  earlier  days. 
The  track  was  usually  laid  with  earth  ballast  and 
the  rail  joints  might  be  easily  counted  by  the  passen- 
gers as  the  cars  pounded  over  them.  Add  to  these 
discomforts  the  necessity  of  frequent  changes  from 

[21] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

one  short  line  to  another  when  it  was  necessary  for 
the  passengers  each  time  to  purchase  new  tickets  and 
personally  pick  out  their  baggage,  due  to  the  absence 
of  coupon  tickets  and  baggage  checks,  and  the  joys 
of  the  tourist  may  be  realized. 

As  early  as  1836  the  officers  of  the  Cumberland 
Valley  Railroad  of  Pennsylvania  installed  a 
sleeping-car  service  between  Harrisburg  and  Cham- 
bersburg.  This  first  sleeping  car  was,  as  was  later 
the  first  Pullman  car,  an  adaption  of  an  ordinary 
day  coach  to  sleeping  requirements.  It  was  divided 
into  four  compartments  in  each  of  which  three  bunks 
were  built  against  one  side  of  the  car,  and  in  the 
rear  of  the  car  were  provided  a  towel,  basin,  and 
water.  No  bed  clothes  were  furnished  and  the  weary 
passengers  fully  dressed  reclined  on  rough  mattresses 
with  their  overcoats  or  shawls  drawn  over  them, 
doubtless  marveling  the  while  at  the  fruitfulness  of 
modern  invention.  As  time  went  on  other  similar 
cars,  with  berths  arranged  in  three  tiers  on  one  side 
of  the  car,  were  adopted  by  various  railroads,  and 
occasional  but  in  no  manner  fundamental  improve- 
ments were  made.  Candles  furnished  the  light,  and 
the  heat  was  supplied  by  box  stoves  burning  wood 

[22] 


EVOLUTION  OF  THE  SLEEPING  CAR 


or  sometimes  coal.  For  a  number  of  years  these 
makeshift  cars  found  an  appreciative  patronage,  and 
temporarily  served  the  patrons  of  the  road. 

In  the  next  ten  years  similar  "bunk"  cars  were 
adopted  by  other  railroads,  but  improvements  were 
negligible  and  their  only  justification  existed  in  the 


Midnight  in  the  old  coaches  previous  to  the  introduction  of 
the  Pullman  sleeping  car,  A  night  journey  in  those  days  was  some- 
thing to  be  dreaded, 

ability  of  the  passengers  to  recline  at  length  during 
the  long  night  hours.  The  innovation  of  bedding 
furnished  by  the  railroad  marked  a  slight  progress, 
but  the  rough  and  none  too  clean  sheets  and  blankets 
which  the  passengers  were  permitted  to  select  from 
a  closet  in  the  end  of  the  car,  must  have  failed  even 
in  that  day  to  give  satisfaction  to  the  fastidious. 

[23] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

But  in  the  early  fifties  these  very  inconveniences 
fired  the  imagination  of  a  young  traveler  who  had 
bought  a  ticket  on  a  night  train  between  Buffalo 
and  Westfield,  and  in  his  alert  mind  was  inspired, 
as  he  tossed  sleepless  in  his  bunk,  the  first  vision  of 
a  car  that  would  revolutionize  the  railroad  travel 
of  the  world  and  of  a  system  that  would  present  to 
the  traveling  public  a  mighty  organization  whose 
first  purpose  would  be  to  contribute  safety,  con- 
venience, luxury  and  a  uniform  and  universal  service 
from  coast  to  coast. 

George  Mortimer  Pullman  was  born  in  Brockton, 
Chautauqua  County,  New  York,  March  3,  1831. 
His  early  schooling  was  limited  to  the  country 
schoolhouse,  and  at  the  age  of  fourteen  his  education 
was  completed  and  he  obtained  employment  at  a 
salary  of  $40  a  year  in  a  small  store  in  Westfield, 
New  York,  that  supplied  the  neighboring  farmers 
with  their  simple  necessities.  But  the  occupation  of 
a  country  storekeeper  failed  to  fix  the  restless  mind 
of  the  boy,  and  three  years  later  he  packed  his  few 
possessions  and  moved  to  Albion,  New  York,  where 
an  older  brother  had  developed  a  cabinet-making 
business. 

[24] 


'EEKLY. 


COiNrVENIENCB   OF   THE  NEW   SLEEPING   CARS. 

ill'     '  '  '!  f,nt^  „',n  t<,U^  a  h^rth  in  the  .'^hfjmg  Car,  lisirni.) 
n  tbink  the  .Milkrc  k  Bridge  ?afe  lo-niKht?" 
'  '  k.  I  n  the  t.tcain,  I  guf>s  we'll  get  the  Engine  and  Tender  over  s3i 


EVOLUTION  OF  THE  SLEEPING  CAR 

Here  Pullman  found  a  wider  field  for  his  natural 
abilities,  and  at  the  same  time  acquired  a  knowledge 
of  wood  working  and  construction  that  was  soon  to 
afford  the  foundation  for  larger  enterprises.  During 
the  ten  years  that  followed  there  were  times  when 
the  demands  on  the  little  shop  of  the  Pullman  broth- 
ers failed  to  afford  sufficient  occupation  for  the  two 
young  cabinet  makers,  and  the  younger  brother, 
eager  to  improve  his  opportunities,  began  to  accept 
outside  contracts  of  various  sorts.  The  state  of  New 
York  had  begun  to  widen  the  Erie  Canal  which 
passed  through  Albion.  Clustered  on  its  banks  were 
numerous  warehouses  and  other  buildings,  and  the 
young  man  soon  proved  his  ability  to  contract  suc- 
cessfully for  the  necessary  moving  of  these  buildings 
back  to  the  new  banks  of  the  canal.  The  venture 
was  successful.  An  opportunity  fortuitously  created 
was  seized,  and  not  only  was  an  increased  livelihood 
secured,  but  the  wider  scope  of  this  new  activity 
gave  the  young  man  an  increased  confidence  in  him- 
self on  which  to  enlarge  his  future  activities. 

It  was  during  these  years  that  George  M.  Pullman 
experienced  his  first  night  travel  and  the  hardships 
of  the  sleeping  car  accommodations.    As  Fulton  and 

[25] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

Watt  and  Stephenson,  in  the  crude  steam  engine  of 
their  time,  saw  the  locomotive  and  marine  engine 
of  today,  so  in  this  bungling  sleeper  George  M. 
Pullman  saw  the  modern  sleeping  car  and  the  vast 
system  he  was  in  time  to  originate.  In  his  mind  a 
score  of  ideas  were  immediately  presented  and  on  his 
return  to  Albion  he  discussed  the  possibility  of  their 
amplification  with  Assemblyman  Ben  Field,  a  warm 
friend  in  these  early  days. 

The  contracting  business  had  increased  Pullman's 
field  of  observation,  it  had  stimulated  his  invention, 
it  had  accustomed  him  to  the  management  of  men. 
When  the  widening  of  the  Erie  Canal  had  been 
accomplished,  the  field  for  his  new  vocation  was 
practically  eliminated;  and  it  was  but  natural  that 
the  ambition  of  youth  could  not  be  satisfied  to  return 
to  the  cabinet-making  business.  Westward  lay  the 
future.  In  the  new  town  of  Chicago,  which  had  in 
so  few  years  grown  up  at  the  foot  of  Lake  Michigan, 
young  men  were  already  building  world  enterprises. 
Chicago,  named  from  the  wild  onion  that  grew  in 
the  marsh  lands  about  the  winding  river,  offered 
promise  of  greatness.  Its  romantic  growth  seized 
the  imagination  of  the  youthful  Albion  contractor. 

[26] 


(s]@|,(i((gvia  v»siLiygoi5  J,i^^j,,t^ 


EVOLUTION  OF  THE  SLEEPING  CAR 

Naturally  his  first  thought  was  to  profit  by  his 
contracting  experience,  and  again  a  happy  chance 
favored  him.  Built  on  the  low  land  behind  the 
sand  dunes  and  south  of  the  sluggish  river  Chicago 
suffered  from  a  lack  of  proper  drainage.  Mud 
choked  the  streets;  cellars  were  wells  of  water  after 
every  rain.  In  1855,  ^^^  Y^^^  ^^  his  arrival,  Pull- 
man made  a  contract  to  raise  the  level  of  certain  of 
the  city  streets.  It  was  a  bold  undertaking,  but  his 
confidence  knew  no  hesitation,  and  the  work  was 
satisfactorily  accomplished.  Other  contracts  fol- 
lowed, and  in  a  short  time  Pullman  had  built  him- 
self a  substantial  reputation  and  had  raised  a  num- 
ber of  blocks  of  brick  and  stone  buildings,  includ- 
ing the  famous  Tremont  House,  to  the  new  level. 

Chicago  in  1858  was  a  town  of  100,000  popula- 
tion. Here  Cyrus  H.  McCormick  had  built  his 
reaper  factory  on  the  banks  of  the  river.  Here  R. 
T.  Crane  was  laying  the  small  foundation  for  the 
mighty  industry  of  future  years.  Here  Marshall 
Field  and  Levi  Z.  Leiter  were  rising  junior  partners 
in  their  growing  business,  and  here  the  future  heads 
of  the  meat-packing  industry  were  developing  their 
mighty  business.    To  the  country  boy  from  a  New 

[27] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

York  village,  its  muddy  streets  and  rows  of  frame 
and  brick  buildings  savored  of  a  metropolis;  in  its 
naked  newness  he  sensed  the  vital  energy  that  was 
so  soon  to  place  it  among  the  cities  of  the  world. 

But  even  during  these  years  of  untiring  activity 
the  thought  of  a  radical  improvement  in  railway 
car  construction  was  constantly  working  in  the  brain 
of  the  young  contractor,  and  in  1858  he  determined 
to  give  his  ideas  the  practical  test.  The  story  of  this 
first  application  of  these  revolutionizing  ideas  to  the 
railroad  coaches  then  in  use  is  best  told  in  the  words 
of  Leonard  Seibert,  who  was  at  that  time  an 
employee  on  the  Chicago  &  Alton  Railroad. 

In  1858  Mr.  Pullman  came  to  Bloomington  and 
engaged  me  to  do  the  work  of  remodelling  two  Chicago 
&  Alton  coaches  into  the  first  Pullman  sleeping-cars. 
The  contract  was  that  Mr.  Pullman  should  make  all 
necessary  changes  inside  of  the  cars.  After  looking  over 
the  entire  passenger  car  equipment  of  the  road,  which  at 
that  time  constituted  about  a  dozen  cars,  we  selected 
Coaches  Nos.  9  and  19.  They  were  forty-four  feet  long, 
had  flat  roofs  like  box  cars,  single  sash  windows,  of 
which  there  were  fourteen  on  a  side,  the  glass  in  each 
sash  being  only  a  little  over  one  foot  square.  The  roof 
was  only  a  trifle  over  six  feet  from  the  floor  of  the  car. 
Into  this  car  we  got  ten  sleeping-car  sections,  besides  a 
linen  locker  and  two  washrooms  —  one  at  each  end. 

[28  J 


EVOLUTION  OF  THE  SLEEPING  CAR 

The  wood  used  in  the  interior  finish  was  cherry. 
Mr.  Pullman  was  anxious  to  get  hickory,  to  stand  the 
■  hard  usage  which  it  was  supposed  the  cars  would  receive. 
I  worked  part  of  the  summer  of  1858,  employing  an 
assistant  or  two,  and  the  cars  went  into  service  in  the 
fall  of  1858.  There  were  no  blue-prints  or  plans  made 
for  the  remodelling  of  these  first  two  sleeping-cars,  and 
Mr.  Pullman  and  I  worked  out  the  details  and  measure- 
ments as  we  came  to  them.  The  two  cars  cost  Mr.  Pull- 
man not  more  than  $2,000,  or  $1,000  each.  They  were 
upholstered  in  plush,  lighted  by  oil  lamps,  heated  with 
box  stoves,  and  mounted  on  four-wheel  trucks  with  iron 
wheels.  There  was  no  porter  in  those  days;  the  brake- 
man  made  up  the  beds. 

In  the  construction  of  these  first  sleeping  cars  Mr. 
Pullman  introduced  his  invention  of  upper  berth 
construction  by  means  of  which  the  upper  berth 
might  be  closed  in  the  day  time  and  also  serve  as  a 
receptacle  for  bedding.  Other  improvements  and 
devices  v^ere  worked  out  and  tested,  and  from  these 
first  experiments  were  drawn  the  detailed  plans  from 
which  the  first  cars  entirely  constructed  by  him  were 
made.  Although  without  technical  training  himself, 
Mr.  Pullman  was  quick  to  recognize  the  necessity 
of  skilled  assistance  to  express  and  improve  his 
embryonic  ideas.  To  this  end  he  soon  established 
a   small   workshop,    and   employing   a   number   of 

[29] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

skilled  mechanics  set  himself  to  the  mastery  of  the 

problems  which  confronted  him. 

Another  interesting  personal  reminiscence  of  the 

first  days  of  the  Pullman  car  is  afforded  by  J.  L. 

Barnes,  who  was  in  charge  of  the  first  car  run  from 

Bloomington  to  Chicago  over  the  Chicago  &  Alton. 

Mr.  Pullman  had  an  office  on  Madison  Avenue  just 
west  of  LaSalle  Street  and  I  boarded  with  a  family  very 
close  to  his  office.  I  used  to  pass  his  office  on  my  to 
meals,  and  having  read  in  the  paper  that  he  was  working 
on  a  sleeping  car,  one  day  I  stopped  in  and  made  appli- 
cation to  Mr.  Pullman  personally  for  a  place  as  conductor. 
I  gave  him  some  references  and  called  again  and  he  said 
the  references  were  all  right  and  promised  me  the  place. 
I  made  my  first  trip  between  Bloomington,  Illinois,  and 
Chicago  on  the  night  of  September  I,  1859.  ^  was 
twenty-two  years  old  at  the  time.  I  wore  no  uniform 
and  was  attired  in  citizen's  clothes.  I  wore  a  badge,  that 
was  all.  One  of  my  passengers  was  George  M.  Pullman, 
inventor  of  the  sleeping  car.  ...  All  the  passengers 
were  from  Bloomington  and  there  were  no  women  on  the 
car  that  night.  The  people  of  Bloomington,  little  reckon- 
ing that  history  was  being  made  in  their  midst,  did  not 
come  down  to  the  station  to  see  the  Pullman  car's  first 
trip.  There  was  no  crowd,  and  the  car,  lighted  by  can- 
dles, moved  away  in  solitary  grandeur,  if  such  it  might 

be  called I  remember  on  the  first  night  I  had  to 

compel  the  passengers  to  take  their  boots  of¥  before  they 
got  into  the  berths.  They  wanted  to  keep  them  on  — 
seemed  afraid  to  take  them  off. 

[30] 


EVOLUTION  OF  THE  SLEEPING  CAR 

The  first  month  business  was  very  poor.  People  had 
been  in  the  habit  of  sitting  up  all  night  in  the  straight 
back  seats  and  they  did  not  think  much  of  trying  to  sleep 

while  traveling After  I  had  made  a  few  trips  it 

was  decided  it  did  not  pay  to  employ  a  Pullman  con- 
ductor, and  the  car  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  passenger 
conductor  of  the  train  which  carried  the  sleeping  car, 
and  I  was  out  of  a  job. 

The  first  Pullman  car  was  a  primitive  thing.  Beside 
being  lighted  with  candles  it  was  heated  by  a  stove  at 
each  end  of  the  car.  There  were  no  carpets  on  the  floor, 
and  the  Interior  of  the  car  was  arranged  in  this  way: 
There  were  four  upper  and  four  lower  berths.  The 
backs  of  the  seats  were  hinged  and  to  make  up  the  lower 
berth  the  porter  merely  dropped  the  back  of  the  seat 
until  it  was  level  with  the  seat  Itself.  Upon  this  he 
placed  a  mattress  and  blanket.  There  was  no  sheets. 
The  upper  berth  was  suspended  from  the  ceiling  of  the 
car  by  ropes  and  pulleys  attached  to  each  of  the  four 
corners  of  the  berth.  The  upper  berths  were  constructed 
with  Iron  rods  running  from  the  floor  of  the  car  to  the 
roof,  and  during  the  day  the  berth  was  pulled  up  until 
it  hugged  the  ceiling,  there  being  a  catch  which  held  It 
up.  At  night  It  was  suspended  about  half-way  between 
the  ceiling  of  the  car  and  the  floor.  We  used  curtains 
in  front  and  between  all  the  berths.  In  the  daytime  one 
of  the  sections  was  used  to  store  all  the  mattresses  In. 
The  car  had  a  very  low  deck  and  was  quite  short.  It 
had  four  wheel  trucks  and  with  the  exception  of  the 
springs  under  It  was  similar  to  the  freight  car  of  today. 
The  coupler  was  "  link  and  pin ; "  we  had  no  automatic 
brakes  or  couplers  in  those  days.     There  was  a  very 

[31] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

small  toilet  room  in  each  end,  only  large  enough  for  one 
person  at  a  time.  The  wash  basin  was  made  of  tin.  The 
water  for  the  wash  basin  came  from  the  drinking  can 
which  had  a  faucet  so  that  people  could  get  a  drink. 

The  two  remodeled  Chicago  &  Alton  coaches  were 
instantly  accepted  by  the  public,  but  despite  their 
popularity,  and  the  popularity  of  a  third  car  which 
followed  them,  their  originator  considered  them 
merely  as  experiments  and  in  1864  plans  for  the 
first  actual  Pullman  car  were  completed  which  gave 
promise  of  a  car  radically  different  in  its  con- 
struction, appointments,  and  arrangement  from  any- 
thing heretofore  attempted.  Into  this  car  Pullman 
resolutely  cast  the  small  capital  that  he  had  accu- 
mulated; in  its  success  he  placed  the  unswerving 
confidence  that  characterized  his  clear  vision  and 
indomitable  determination  to  succeed.  This  model 
car  was  built  in  Chicago  on  the  site  of  the  present 
Union  Station  in  a  shed  belonging  to  the  Chicago  & 
Alton  Railroad,  at  a  cost  of  $18,239.31,  without 
its  equipment,  and  almost  a  year  was  required  before 
it  was  ready  for  service.  Fully  equipped  and 
ready  for  service  it  represented  an  investment  of 
$20,178.14.     The  "Pioneer"  was  the  name  chosen 

[32] 


J.  L.  Barnes,  the  first  Pullman  car  conductor,  whose  reminiscences 
of  that  early  period  are  quoted  in  this  book 


EVOLUTION  OF  THE  SLEEPING  CAR 

for  its  designation,  and  with  the  faith  that  other 
cars  would  soon  be  required  the  letter  "A"  was 
added,  an  indication  that  even  Mr.  Pullman's  vision 
failed  to  anticipate  the  possible  demand  beyond  the 
twenty-six  letters  of  the  alphabet. 

Never  before  had  such  a  car  been  seen ;  never  had 
the  wildest  flights  of  fancy  imagined  such  mag- 
nificence. Up  to  the  building  of  the  "Pioneer" 
$5,000  had  represented  the  maximum  that  had  ever 
been  spent  on  a  single  railroad  coach.  It  was  unbe- 
lievable that  this  $18,000  investment  could  yield  a 
remunerative  return.  The  "Pioneer"  had  improved 
trucks  with  springs  reinforced  by  blocks  of  solid  rub- 
ber; it  was  a  foot  wider  and  two  and  a  half  feet 
higher  than  any  car  then  in  service,  the  additional 
height  being  necessary  to  accommodate  the  hinged 
upper  berth  of  Mr.  Pullman's  invention.  Com- 
bined with  its  unusual  strength,  weight,  and  solidity, 
its  beauty  and  the  artistic  character  of  its  furnishing 
and  decoration  were  unprecedented.  At  one  stride 
an  advance  of  fifty  years  had  been  effected. 

A  further  proof  of  Mr.  Pullman's  faith  in  the 
success  of  the  "Pioneer"  type  of  car  is  illustrated 
by  the  fact  that  due  to  its  increased  height  and 

[33] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

breadth  the  dimensions  of  station  platforms  and 
bridges  at  the  time  of  its  construction  would  not  per- 
mit its  passage  over  any  existing  railroad.  It  is  said 
that  these  necessary  changes  were  hastened  in  the 
spring  of  1865  by  the  demand  that  the  new 
"Pioneer"  be  attached  to  the  funeral  train  which 
conveyed  the  body  of  President  Lincoln  from  Chi- 
cago to  Springfield.  In  this  way  one  railroad  was 
quickly  adapted  to  the  new  requirements,  and  a  few 
years  later  when  the  "Pioneer"  was  engaged  to  take 
General  Grant  on  a  trip  from  Detroit  to  his  home 
town  of  Galena,  Illinois,  another  route  was  opened 
to  its  passage. 

Other  roads  soon  made  the  necessary  alterations 
to  permit  the  passage  of  the  "  Pioneer  "  and  its  sister 
cars  which  were  now  under  construction.  The 
"Pioneer"  had,  by  this  time,  won  wide  recognition 
and  popularity,  and  a  few  months  later  was  put  in 
regular  service  on  the  Alton  Road.  So  well  were 
its  dimensions  calculated  by  Mr.  Pullman  that  the 
"  Pioneer  "  immediately  became  the  model  by  which 
all  railroad  cars  were  measured,  and  to  this  day  prac- 
tically the  only  changes  in  dimensions  have  been  in 
increased  length. 

[34] 


EVOLUTION  OF  THE  SLEEPING  CAR 

To  secure  the  continuous  use  of  the  "Pioneer" 
and  other  similar  cars  an  agreement  was  effected 
between  Mr.  Pullman  and  the  Chicago  &  Alton 
which  marked  the  beginning  of  the  vast  system 
which  today  embraces  the  entire  country  and  makes 
possible  continuous  and  luxurious  travel  over  a  large 
number  of  distinct  railroads.  Thus  in  the  space  of 
a  few  years  George  M.  Pullman  not  only  evolved 
a  type  of  railroad  car  luxurious  and  beautiful  in 
design  and  embracing  in  its  construction  patents  of 
great  originality  and  ingenuity,  but,  in  addition, 
evolved  the  rudimentary  conception  of  a  system 
by  which  passengers  might  be  carried  to  any  destina- 
tion in  cars  of  uniform  construction,  equipped  for 
day  or  night  travel,  and  served  and  protected  by 
trained  employees  whose  sole  function  is  to  provide 
for  the  passengers'  safety,  comfort,  and  convenience. 


[35] 


m 

The  Rise  of  a  Great  Industry 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  RISE  OF  A  GREAT  INDUSTRY 

THE  '' Pioneer  "  had  cost  Mr.  Pullman  $20,000. 
Compared  with  the  finest  sleeping  cars  pre- 
viously in  use,  it  was  clearly  evident  that  a  new 
development  in  luxurious  travel  had  been  accom- 
plished. The  best  ordinary  sleeping  cars  were 
considered  expensive  at  $4,000.  There  was  no  more 
comparison  between  the  "Pioneer"  and  its  predeces- 
sors in  comfort  than  in  cost.  But  it  remained  to  be 
seen  what  the  public  would  think  of  it;  whether 
they  preferred  luxury,  comfort,  and  real  service,  to 
hardship,  discomfort,  and  no  service  at  a  lower  cost. 
The  new  cars  were  larger,  heavier,  and  more  sub- 
stantial than  any  previously  constructed.  Increased 
safety  was  one  of  their  advantages.  Moreover,  they 
were  far  more  beautiful  from  every  aspect — 
artistically  painted,  richly  decorated,  and  furnished 
with  fittings  for  that  day  remarkable  for  their  elab- 
orate nature.  They  were  universally  admired,  and 
quickly  became  the  topic  of  interest  among  the 

[39] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

traveling  public.  It  is  remarkable  that  at  this  early 
date  the  two  features  of  the  Pullman  car  which 
characterize  it  today — the  features  of  safety  and 
luxury — should  have  l^een  so  clearly  defined. 

It  is  human  nature  to  accept  each  step  forward 
as  a  new  standard  and  it  is  characteristically  Ameri- 
can to  refuse  to  accept  an  inferior  article  as  soon  as 
one  superior  is  available,  even  if  at  greater  cost.  The 
"Pioneer"  and  its  successors  established  such  a 
standard,  and  immediately  those  accustomed  and 
able  to  afford  the  increased  rate  required  by  the 
greater  investment  in  the  car,  gladly  and  thankfully 
accepted  it ;  while  those  whose  nature  usually  inclines 
to  haggling  when  the  purse  is  touched,  were  con- 
vinced of  the  worth  of  the  innovation  by  the 
assurance  against  disaster  which  the  weight  and 
strength  of  the  Pullman  cars  assured. 

The  next  car  constructed  by  Mr.  Pullman,  after 
the  "Pioneer"  cost  $24,000.  And  very  soon  after 
several  additional  cars  were  built  at  approximately 
the  same  cost,  and  were  put  in  operation  on  the 
Michigan  Central  Railroad.  Here  was  the  great 
test.  In  these  luxurious  carriages  and  in  the  verdict 
of  the  traveling  public  rested  the  future  of  Mr. 

[40] 


RISE  OF  A  GREAT  INDUSTRY 

Pullman's  project.  The  question  simply  resolved 
itself  to  this:  Did  the  public  want  them?  In  the 
old  sleeping  cars  a  berth  had  cost  considerably  less 
than  it  was  necessary  to  charge  for  one  in  the  new 
Pullman  cars.  In  the  mind  of  the  inventor  there 
was  no  question  as  to  the  verdict.  The  railroad 
authorities  were  equally  certain  the  other  way. 
They  did  not  think  the  public  would  pay  the  extra 
sum. 

There  was  but  one  way  to  decide,  and  Mr.  Pull- 
man made  the  suggestion  that  both  Pullman  cars 
and  old  style  sleeping  cars  be  operated  on  the  same 
train  at  their  respective  prices.  The  results  would 
show. 

What  happened  is  best  described  in  the  words  of 
a  contemporary  writer. 

Mr.  Pullman  suggested  that  the  matter  be  submitted  to 
the  decision  of  the  traveling  public.  He  proposed  that 
the  new  cars,  with  their  increased  rate,  be  put  on  trains 
with  the  old  cars  at  the  cheaper  rate.  If  the  traveling 
public  thought  the  beauty  of  finish,  the  increased  comfort, 
and  the  safety  of  the  new  cars  worth  $2  per  night,  there 
were  the  $24,000  cars ;  if,  on  the  other  hand,  they  were 
satisfied  with  less  attractive  surroundings  at  a  saving  of 
50  cents,  the  cheaper  cars  were  at  their  disposal.  It  was 
a  simple  submission  without  argument  of  the  plain  facts 

[41] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

on  both  sides  of  the  issue  —  in  other  words,  an  appHcation 
of  the  good  American  doctrine  of  appeaHng  to  the  people 
as  the  court  of  highest  resort. 

The  decision  came  instantly  and  in  terms  which  left  no 
opening  for  discussion.  The  only  travelers  who  rode  in 
the  old  cars  were  those  who  were  grumbling  because  they 
could  not  get  berths  in  the  new  ones.  After  running 
practically  empty  for  a  few  days,  the  cars  in  which  the 
price  for  a  berth  was  $1.50  were  withdrawn  from  service, 
and  Pullmans,  wherein  the  two-dollar  tariff  prevailed, 
were  substituted  in  their  places,  and  this  for  the  very 
potent  reason,  that  the  public  insisted  upon  it.  Nor  did 
the  results  stop  there.  The  Michigan  Central  Railway, 
charging  an  extra  tariff  of  fifty  cents  per  night  as  com- 
pared with  other  eastern  lines,  proved  an  aggressive  com- 
petitor of  those  lines,  not  in  spite  of  the  extra  charge,  but 
because  of  it,  and  of  the  higher  order  of  comfort  and 
beauty  it  represented.  Then  followed  a  curious  reversal 
of  the  usual  results  of  competition.  Instead  of  a  levelling 
down  to  the  cheaper  basis  on  which  all  opposition  was 
united,  there  was  a  levelling  up  to  the  standard  on  which 
the  Pullman  service  was  planted  and  on  which  it  stood 
out  single-handed  and  alone. 

Within  comparatively  a  short  period  all  the  Michigan 
Central's  rival  lines  were  forced  by  sheer  pressure  from 
the  traveling  public  to  withdraw  the  inferior  and  cheaper 
cars  and  meet  the  superior  accommodations  and  the  neces- 
sarily higher  tariff.  In  other  words,  the  Inspiration  of 
that  key-note  of  vigorous  ambition  for  excellence  of  the 
product  Itself,  Irrespective  of  immediate  financial  returns, 
which  was  struck  with  such  emphasis  in  the  building  of 
the  "  Pioneer,"  and  which  ever  since  has  rung  through  all 

[42] 


One  of  the  first  cars  built  by  George  M.   Pullman 


Interior  of  the  car.     (i)   the  car  in  the  daytime  showing  wood 

stove  and  fuel  box;   (2)   making  up  the  berths.     There 

were  no  end  divisions,  and  a  thin  curtain  only 

separated   the   berths 


RISE  OF  A  GREAT  INDUSTRY 

the  Pullman  work,  was  felt  in  the  railroad  world  of  the 
United  States  at  that  early  date,  just  as  it  is  even  more 
commonly  felt  at  the  present  time.  At  one  bound  it  put 
the  American  railway  passenger  service  in  the  leadership 
of  all  nations  in  that  particular  branch  of  progress,  and 
has  held  it  there  ever  since  as  an  object  lesson  in  the 
illustration  of  a  broad  and  far-reaching  principle.^ 

It  will  probably  be  interesting  at  this  point  to 
describe  with  some  detail  the  Pullman  car  of  this 
early  period.  In  the  Daily  Illinois  State  Register, 
Springfield,  May  26,  1865,  appears  an  interesting 
description  of  one  of  the  new  Pioneer  type  of  cars 
just  installed  on  the  Chicago  &  Alton  Railroad. 

To  the  train  on  the  Chicago,  Alton  &  St.  Louis  Rail- 
road, which  passed  up  at  noon  today,  was  attached  one 
of  Pullman's  improved  and  beautiful  sleeping  carriages, 
containing  a  party  of  excursionists  from  the  Garden 
City  [Chicago],  to  whom  the  trip  was  complimentarily 
extended  by  the  company  of  the  road,  and  among  whom 
was  George  M.  Pullman,  Esq.,  of  Chicago,  the  patentee 
of  the  car.  This  carriage,  which  we  had  the  pleasure  of 
inspecting  during  the  stay  of  the  train  at  our  depot,  we 
found  to  be  the  most  comfortable  and  complete  in  all  its 
appurtenances,  and  decidedly  superior  in  many  respects  to 
any  similar  carriage  we  have  ever  seen.  It  is  fifty-four 
feet  in  length  by  ten  in  width,  and  was  built  at  a  cost  of 
$18,000,  the  painting  alone  costing  upwards  of  $500. 

1  Contemporary  American  Biography,  p.  260. 

[43] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

Besides  the  berths,  sufficient  in  number  to  accommodate 
upwards  of  a  hundred  passengers,  there  are  four  state 
rooms  formed  by  folding  doors,  and  so  constructed  with 
the  berths  that  the  whole  can  easily  be  thrown  into  one 
apartment.  When  the  car  is  not  used  for  sleeping  pur- 
poses, as  in  the  day,  every  appearance  of  a  berth  or  a  bed 
is  concealed,  and  in  their  stead  appear  the  most  com- 
fortable of  seats. 

Westlake's  patent  heating  and  ventilating  apparatus  is 
applied  so  that  a  constant  current  of  pure  and  pleasant 
air  is  kept  in  circulation  through  the  car.  In  fact,  it  was 
useless  to  attempt  to  enumerate,  in  so  brief  a  notice,  even 
a  few  of  the  many  improvements  which  have  been  intro- 
duced by  the  patentees  into  the  carriage,  rendering  it  as 
they  have,  superior  to  any  that  we  have  ever  inspected. 
To  one  fact,  however,  we  will  refer  in  this  connection,  as 
especially  conducive  to  the  comfort  of  the  traveling 
public,  viz.,  that  a  daily  change  of  linen  is  made  in  the 
berths  of  this  new  carriage,  thereby  keeping  them  con- 
stantly clean  and  comfortable,  and  rendering  the  car  much 
more  attractive  than  are  similar  carriages  where  this  is 
neglected.  As  we  are  informed  by  Mr.  Pullman  that 
these  cars  will  hereafter  be  run  on  the  St.  Louis  and 
Chicago  line,  we  would  especially  direct  the  attention  of 
travelers  to  the  fact,  and  recommend  them  to  investigate 
the  matter  of  our  notice  for  themselves. 

Exactly  how  *' upwards  of  a  hundred  passengers" 
could  have  been  accommodated  is  hardly  clear,  but 
the  enthusiasm  of  the  reporter,  fired  perhaps  by  the 
luxury  of  clean  linen  for  each  berth  each  day,  may 

[44] 


RISE  OF  A  GREAT  INDUSTRY 

account  for  this  apparent  exaggeration.  In  the 
Illinois  Journal^  another  Springfield  paper,  of  May 
30,  the  reporter  reduces  the  estimate  of  the  capacity 
to  fifty-two  and  comments  with  perhaps  more  detail 
on  the  decorative  features  of  the  car. 

We  are  reminded  by  a  prophecy  which  we  heard  some 
three  years  since  —  that  the  time  was  not  far  distant  when 
a  radical  change  would  be  introduced  in  the  manner  of 
constructing  railroad  cars;  the  public  would  travel  upon 
them  with  as  much  ease  as  though  sitting  in  their  parlors, 
and  sleep  and  eat  on  board  of  them  with  more  ease  and 
comfort  than  it  would  be  possible  to  do  on  a  first-class 
steamer.  We  believed  the  words  of  the  seer  at  the  time, 
but  did  not  think  they  were  so  near  fulfillment  until 
Friday  last,  when  we  were  invited  to  the  Chicago  & 
Alton  depot  in  this  city  to  examine  an  improved  sleeping- 
car,  manufactured  by  Messrs.  Field  &  Pullman,  patentees, 
after  a  design  by  George  M.  Pullman,  Esq.,  Chicago. 

The  writer  describes  his  impressions  of  the  interior. 
The  absence  of  "mattresses  or  dingy  curtains"  by 
day,  the  beauty  of  the  window  curtains  "looped  in 
heavy  folds,"  the  "French  plate  mirrors  suspended 
from  the  walls,"  as  well  as  the  "several  beautiful 
chandeliers,  with  exquisitely  ground  shades" 
hanging  from  a  ceiling  "painted  with  chaste  and 
elaborate    design   upon    a   delicately   tinted    azure 

[45] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

ground,"  while  the  black  walnut  woodwork  and 
"richest  Brussels  carpeting"  make  the  picture  com- 
plete. It  is  small  wonder  that  the  Pullman  car 
excited  admiration,  and  that  its  first  appearance  in 
the  Illinois  towns  was  probably  recorded  by  similar 
editorial  appreciation. 

But  perhaps  one  of  the  most  interesting  insights 
into  the  condition  which  the  new  Pullman  cars  were 
so  quick  to  remedy,  is  found  in  the  Chicago  ^rihune^ 
June  20,  1865.  After  a  veritable  eulogy  on  the 
elegance  and  comfort  of  the  Pullman  car,  the  writer 
draws  the  following  enviable  contrast. 

It  leaves  to  others  to  ticket  the  actual  transit,  so  many 
miles  for  so  much  money,  and  comes  in  with  its  cars  as 
the  Ticket  Agent  of  Comfort,  sells  you  coupons  to  rest 
and  ease  by  the  way.  So  you  wish  to  go  through  to  New 
York  or  Baltimore,  yourself,  Belinda,  Biddy  and  the 
baby,  baskets,  bundles,  etc?  You  think  of  changes  of 
cars  by  night,  and  rushes  for  seats  for  your  party  by  day, 
of  seats  foul  with  the  scrapings  of  dirty  boots,  of  floors 
flowing  with  saliva,  of  coarse  faces  and  coarse  conversa- 
tion, of  seats  you  cannot  recline  in,  of  the  ordinary  dis- 
comforts of  a  long  journey  by  rail ! 

It  IS  small  wonder  that  the  new  Pullman  cars 
found  an  appreciative  welcome  I 

[46] 


RISE  OF  A  GREAT  INDUSTRY 

In  1866  five  Pullman  sleeping  cars  were  put  in 
operation  on  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy 
Railroad,  and  late  in  May  an  excursion  for  several 
hundred  invited  guests  was  given  from  Chicago  to 
Aurora,  Illinois,  and  return.  The  new  cars  were 
named,  '^ Atlantic,''  "Pacific,"  "Aurora,"  "City  of 
Chicago,"  and  "Omaha."  Occasioned  by  the  com- 
forts which  this  new  equipment  disclosed  a  current 
newspaper  remarked: 

Pullman  is  a  benefactor  to  his  kind.  The  dreaded 
journey  to  New  York  becomes  a  mere  holiday  excursion 
in  his  delightful  coaches,  and,  by  the  way,  he  will  soon 
have  a  through  line  from  Chicago  to  New  York,  in  which 
a  man  need  never  leave  his  place  from  one  city  to  the 
other. 

The  year  1867  marks  the  incorporation  of  Pull- 
man's Palace  Car  Company,  for  the  purpose  of  the 
manufacture  and  operation  of  sleeping  cars.  At 
the  time  of  incorporation  George  M.  Pullman  owned 
all  of  the  sleeping  cars  on  the  Michigan  Central 
Railroad,  Great  Western  [Canada]  Railroad,  and 
the  New  York  Central  Railroad  lines,  a  grand  total 
of  forty-eight  cars.  In  the  operation  of  these  cars 
he  was  ably  assisted  by  his  brother,  A.  B.  Pullman, 
who  held  the  office  of  general  superintendent. 

[47] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

In  forming  the  Pullman  Company,  the  founder 
aspired  to  establish  an  organized  system  by  which 
the  traveling  public  might  be  enabled  to  travel  in 
luxurious  cars  of  uniform  construction,  adapted  to 
both  night  and  day  requirements,  without  change 
between  distant  points,  and  over  various  distinct 
lines  of  railroads.  In  addition,  such  a  service  would 
provide  the  heretofore  unknown  asset  of  responsible 
employees  to  whose  care  might  be  entrusted  women, 
children,  and  invalids.  It  was  a  service  that  was 
sorely  needed,  and  indication  pointed  to  its  prompt 
acceptance  by  the  railroads  and  the  public. 

In  the  same  year  a  remarkable  achievement  in 
railroad  travel  was  accomplished.  Due  to  the  dif- 
ferent gauge  tracks  in  use  by  the  several  railroads 
connecting  Chicago  and  New  York,  the  continuous 
passage  of  a  car  from  one  city  to  the  other  was 
impossible.  But  in  1867  the  standardization  of  the 
gauge  was  effected  by  the  completion  of  a  third  rail 
on  the  Great  Western  [Canada]  Railroad,  and  to 
mark  this  opening  of  through  communication,  an 
excursion  was  arranged  from  Chicago  to  New  York 
on  the  "Western  World,"  the  newest  Pullman 
"  hotel "  sleeping  car. 

[4S] 


RISE  OF  A  GREAT  INDUSTRY 

At  this  point  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  first 
"hotel  car,"  the  "President,"  was  put  in  service 
by  the  Pullman  Company  in  1867  on  the  Great 
Western  Railroad  of  Canada.  The  hotel  car  was 
a  combination  car,  in  reality  a  sleeping  car  with  a 
kitchen  built  in  at  one  end.  The  meals  were  served 
at  tables  placed  in  the  sections.  To  the  Pullman 
Company,  accordingly,  must  be  accorded  the  credit 
of  first  supplying  to  the  public  the  service  of  meals 
on  board  a  train.  The  success  of  the  "President" 
led  to  the  immediate  construction  of  the  "Western 
World"  and  its  sister  car  "Kalamazoo."  These 
cars,  however,  must  not  be  confused  with  the  dining 
car  which  was  later  developed  from  the  "  hotel  car  " 
by  the  Pullman  Company,  and  to  which  the  "  hotel 
cars  "  rapidly  gave  place. 

The  Detroit  Commercial  Advertiser  of  June   1, 

1867,  comments: 

But  the  crowning  glory  of  Mr.  Pullman's  invention  is 
evinced  in  his  success  in  supplying  the  car  with  a  cuisine 
department  containing  a  range  where  every  variety  of 
meats,  vegetables  and  pastry  may  be  cooked  on  the  car, 
according  to  the  best  style  of  culinary  art. 

The  following  bill  of  fare  illustrates  the  variety 
of  edibles  provided  on  this  celebrated  excursion. 

[491 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

MENU 

OYSTERS 

Raw 50 

Fried  and  Roast 60 

COLD 

Beef      Tongue,      Sugar-cured      Ham, 

Pressed  Corned  Beef,  Sardines 40' 

Chicken  Salad,  Lobster  Salad 50 

BROILED 

Beefsteak,  with  Potatoes 60 

Mutton  Chops,  with  Potatoes 60 

Ham,  with  Potatoes 50 

EGGS 

Boiled,     Fried,     Scrambled,     Omelette 

Plain 40 

Omelette  with  Rum 50 

Chour-Chow,  Pickles 

Welsh  Rarebit   50 

French  Coffee 25 

Tea 25 

The  excursion  party  left  Chicago  on  April  8, 
1867,  and  comfortably  established  in  the  "Western 

[50] 


RISE  OF  A  GREAT  INDUSTRY 


World"  arrived  in  Detroit  the  following  day.  At 
Detroit  the  river  was  crossed  on  the  "great  iron 
ferry  boat,"  the  first  company  of  passengers  that 
ever  passed  from  Chicago  to  Canada  without  change 
of  cars.  On  the  new  third  rail  of  the  Great  West- 
ern, a  speed  of  forty  miles  was  often  maintained 
for  considerable  periods.  "  The  cars  were  decorated 
with  American  and  British  flags,  symbolizing  the 
union  which  is  destined  to  take  place  between  the 
United  States  and  Canada.  A  train  has  just  rolled 
by,  the  engine  and  passenger  cars  on  the  broad  gauge, 
and  freight  cars  from  the  East  on  the  narrow 
gauge."  So  goes  the  journal  of  one  of  the  passengers. 
Large  crowds  visited  the  train  at  Rochester,  Syra- 
cuse, and  Utica,  and  at  Albany,  Erastus  Corning 
telegraphed  Commodore  Vanderbilt  that  the  car 
must  be  taken  to  New  York,  if  possible,  and  the 
gauge  of  the  Harlem  road  be  taken  for  that  purpose. 
The  party  arrived  in  New  York  on  April  14.  One 
of  the  purposes  of  sending  the  "Western  World" 
to  New  York  was  that  it  might  transport  on  its 
return  trip,  Dr.  J.  C.  Durant,  vice  president  of  the 
Union  Pacific  Road,  and  a  committee  of  directors, 
to  examine  a  portion  of  their  new  transcontinental 

[SI] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

line  which  the  contractors  were  ready  to  turn  over. 
A  member  of  the  party  describes  the  call  on  Dr. 
Durant  in  his  office  on  Nassau  Street  and  refers  to 
the  office  as  "probably  the  finest  in  New  York, 
beautiful  with  paintings  and  statuary,  and  enlivened 
with  the  singing  of  birds." 

Following  the  "Western  World,"  the  "hotel 
cars"  were  promptly  put  in  service  and  regular 
through  service  was  established  between  Chicago 
and  eastern  points.  The  new  "City  of  Boston" 
and  "City  of  New  York"  surpassed  even  the 
"Western  World"  in  magnificence  and  were  popu- 
larly reported  to  have  exceeded  $30,000  each  in 
cost.  These  cars  were  known  as  "hotel  cars"  for 
the  reason  that  each  contained  all  the  requirements 
for  a  protracted  journey.  The  main  body  of  the 
car  was  occupied  by  the  berths  and  seats  and  at  one 
end  a  kitchen  and  pantry  provided  the  culinary 
service.  The  dining  car,  devoted  entirely  to  restau- 
rant purposes,  was  a  second  step  which  soon  fol- 
lowed. The  first  dining  car  personally  designed 
by  Mr.  Pullman  was  named  the  "  Delmonico," 
and  was  operated  on  the  Chicago  &  Alton  in 
1868. 

[52] 


One  of  the  first  Pullman  cars  in  which  meals  were  served 


RISE  OF  A  GREAT  INDUSTRY 

But  it  was  in  1869  that  the  Pullman  car  made 
perhaps  its  greatest  advance  in  the  interest  and  con- 
fidence of  the  public  for  in  that  year  the  Union 
Pacific,  building  westward  from  the  Missouri  River 
at  Omaha,  met  the  Central  Pacific,  which  built  from 
San  Francisco  eastward.  By  their  union  a  line  was 
established  between  the  two  coasts  of  the  continent, 
a  slender  thread  of  track  which  stretched  for  1,848 
miles  through  a  practically  uninhabited  country. 
Almost  simultaneously  with  the  completion  of  the 
road  there  was  put  upon  the  rails  one  of  the  most 
superb  trains  ever  turned  out  of  the  Pullman  shops. 
Its  journey  to  California  and  its  reception  there  were 
in  the  nature  of  a  progressive  ovation.  From  that 
time  forth  the  great  population  of  the  Pacific  coast 
knew  no  train  for  long  distance  travel  save  a  Pull- 
man train,  and  would  hear  of  no  other.  When 
people  from  California  reached  Chicago  on  their  way 
eastward,  the  road  over  which  Pullman  cars  ran  got 
their  patronage,  and  roads  over  which  other  cars 
were  operated  did  not.  Newspapers  and  magazines 
were  awakened  to  studies  of  the  Pullman  cars  and 
the  Pullman  system,  and  scores  of  printed  pages 
were  filled  with  the  marvels  of  a  journey  to  the 

[53] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

Pacific  Ocean  which  was  nothing  more  than  a  six 
days'  sojourn  in  a  luxurious  hotel,  past  the  windows 
of  which  there  constantly  flowed  a  great  panorama 
of  the  American  continent,  thousands  of  miles  in 
length  and  as  wide  as  the  eye  could  reach.  Illus- 
trated magazine  articles  which  appeared  telling  the 
story  of  a  trip  to  California  had  as  many  pictures 
of  Pullman  interiors  as  they  had  of  the  big  trees  or 
the  Yosemite  Valley.  The  effect  of  all  this  was  far 
reaching.  The  great  Pennsylvania  line  abandoned 
its  own  service  and  adopted  the  Pullman,  and  many 
other  lines  made  application  for  inclusion  in  the 
Pullman  system. 

In  May,  1870,  the  first  through  train  from  the 
Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  crossed  the  continent,  engaged 
for  a  special  excursion  by  the  Boston  Board  of 
Trade,  many  distinguished  Bostonians  being  num- 
bered among  the  passengers.  During  the  trip  a  daily 
newspaper  entitled  the  ^ rans-Continental  was  pub- 
lished. In  the  issue  of  May  31,  published  on  the 
sixth  day  out,  as  the  train  was  crossing  the  summit 
of  the  Sierra  Nevadas,  an  account  is  given  of  a  meet- 
ing of  the  passengers  in  the  smoking  car,  and  resolu- 
tions passed  by  them  were  printed.    The  Hon.  Alex 

[54] 


RISE  OF  A  GREAT  INDUSTRY 

H.  Rice  presided  at  the  meeting,  and  the  resolutions 
were  offered  by  Frank  H.  Peabody,  a  Boston  banker, 
and  seconded  by  Robert  B.  Forbes,  another  Bos- 
tonian. 

Resolved,  That  we,  the  passengers  of  the  Boston  Board 
of  Trade  Pullman  excursion  train,  the  first  through  train 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  having  now  been  a  week 
en  route  for  San  Francisco,  and  having  had,  during  this 
period,  ample  opportunity  to  test  the  character  and  qual- 
ity of  the  accommodations  supplied  for  our  journey, 
hereby  express  our  entire  satisfaction  with  the  arrange- 
ments made  by  Mr.  George  M.  Pullman,  and  our  admira- 
tion of  the  skill  and  energy  which  have  resulted  in  the 
construction,  equipment  and  general  management  of  this 
beautiful  and  commodious  moving  hotel. 

Resolved,  That  we  return  our  cordial  thanks  to  Mr. 
Pullman  for  the  very  great  pains  taken  by  him  before- 
hand to  make  the  present  journey  safe  and  pleasurable; 
that  we  recognize  the  complete  success  which  has  fol- 
lowed all  his  efforts,  and  that  we  extend  to  him  our  sincere 
wishes  for  such  a  degree  of  prosperity  to  attend  all  his 
operations  as  will  be  proportionate  to  his  merits  as  one 
of  the  most  public-spirited,  sagacious,  and  liberal  railroad 
men  of  the  present  day. 

Resolved,  That  we  take  pleasure  in  witnessing,  as  we 
journey  from  point  to  point,  through  all  the  Western 
States,  the  many  evidences  of  Mr.  Pullman's  enterprise 
and  the  extent  of  his  operations  in  the  cars  which  we  meet 
belonging  to  the  Pullman  Company,  attached  to  the  regu- 
lar trains  for  the  use  of  the  public,  or  appropriated  espe- 

[55] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 


cially  to  private  excursion  parties,  and  we  earnestly  hope 
that  there  will  be  no  delay  in  placing  the  elegant*  and 
homelike  carriages  upon  the  principal  routes  in  the  New 
England  States,  and  we  will  do  all  in  our  power  to 
accomplish  this  end. 

The  list  of  passengers  on  this  notable  excursion 
included : 


Hon.  Alex.  H.  Rice 

Maj.  Geo.  P.  Denny 

Hon.  J.  M.  S.  Williams 

James  W.  Bliss 

Edward  W.   Kingsley 

Frederick  Allen  and  wife 

H.  S.  Berry 

Miss  Josie  W.  Bliss 

Hon.  John  B.  Brown  and 
wife 

E.  W.  Burr  and  son 

John  L.  Bremer 

Geo.  D.  Baldwin  and  wife 

Miss  L.  E.  Billings 

Chas.  W.  Brooks 

M.  S.  Bolles 

Alvah  Crocker  and  wife 

Mrs.   F.   Cunningham 

Thomas  Dana,  Mrs.  Thom- 
as Dana,  2nd,  Miss  M. 
E.  Dana 

Mrs.  Geo.  P.  Denny 

Arthur  B.  Denny 


Cyrus  Dupee  and  wife 

John  H.  Eastburn  and  wife 

Robert  B.  Forbes  and  wife 

Joshua  Reed 

J.  S.  Fogg 

Mrs.  E.  E.  Poole 

Misses  Farnsw^orth 

Robert  O.  Fuller 

J.  Warren  Faxon 

N.  W.  Farwell  and  wife 

Miss  Mary  E.  Farwell 

Miss  Evelyn  A.  Farwell 

Curtis  Guild  and  wife 

C.  L.  Harding  and  wife 
Miss  N.  Harding 
Edgar  Harding 

J.  F.  Hunnewell 

J.  F.  Heustis 

W.  S.  Houghton  and  wife 

D.  C.  Holder  and  wife 
Miss  C.  Harrington 
A.  L.  Haskell  and  wife 
Miss  Alice  J.  Haley 


[56] 


RISE  OF  A  GREAT  INDUSTRY 


J.  M.  Haskell  and  wife 
H.  O.  Houghton  and  wife 
John  Humphrey 
Hamilton  A.  Hill  and  wife 
Benjamin  James 
C.  F.  Kittredge 
Mrs.  C.  A.  Kinglsey 
Miss  Addie  P.  Kinglsey 
Miss  Mary  L.  Kinglsey 
Chas.  S.  Kendall 
Miss  M.  C.  Love  joy 
John  Lewis 
Jas.  Longley  and  wife 
Geo.  Myrick  and  wife 
Col.  L.  B.  Marsh  and  wife 
C.  F.  McClure  and  wife 
Joseph  Mclntyre 
Sterne  Morse 
Fulton  Paul 
F.  H.   Peabody,  wife  and 

servant 
Miss  F.  Peabody 
Miss  L.  Peabody 
Master  F.  E.  Peabody 
Rev.  E.  G.  Porter 
Miss  M.  F.  Prentiss 
James  W.  Roberts  and  wife 
Wm.  Roberts 


S.  B.  Rindge  and  wife 

Master  F.  H.  Rindge 

J.  M.  B.  Reynolds  and  wife 

John  H.  Rice 

Hon.   Stephen   Salisbury 

M.  S.  Stetson  and  wife 

D.  R.  Sortwell  and  wife 
Alvin  Sortwell 

F.  H.  Shapleigh 

T.  Albert  Taylor  and  wife 

E.  B.  Towne 

Lawson     Valentine     and 

wife 
Miss  Valentine 
Rev.  R.  C.  Waterston  and 

wife 
A.  Williams 
Dr.   H.  W.   Williams  and 

wife 
N.  D.  Whitney  and  wife 
Judge  G.  W.  Warren 
Geo.  A.  Wadley  and  wife 
Henry  T.  Woods 
Mrs.  J.  M.  S.  Williams 
Miss  E.  M.  Williams 
Miss  C.  T.  Williams 
J.  Bert  Williams 


In  the  next  few  years  the  Pullman  Palace  Car 
Company     established     manufacturing     shops     in 

[57] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

Detroit,  and  in  1875  a  new  "  reclining-chair  car," 
the  first  parlor  car  to  be  operated  in  the  United 
States,  was  presented  by  Mr.  Pullman  to  the  public. 
For  several  years  parlor  cars  of  Pullman  design  and 
construction  had  been  in  satisfactory  use  on  the  Mid- 
land Railway,  between  London  and  Liverpool, 
England.  The  success  of  these  cars  promptly 
resulted  in  the  construction  of  the  "Maritana"  for 
use  in  the  United  States.  The  chairs  in  this  new 
car  were  heavily  and  richly  upholstered  and  revolved 
on  a  swivel,  on  the  same  principle  as  the  chairs  in  the 
parlor  car  of  the  present  day. 


[58] 


The  first  parlor  car,  1875 


IV 

The  Pullman  Car  in  Europe 


A 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  PULLMAN  CAR  IN  EUROPE 

MODEST  paragraph  in  many  American  news- 
papers in  February,  1873,  announced  the 
momentous  news  that  England  was  soon  to  enjoy 
the  novelty  of  Pullman  transportation  —  "  The  Mid- 
land Railway  Company  has  entered  into  a  contract 
with  the  Pullman  Palace  Car  Company  for  the 
equipment  of  their  road  with  American  drawing 
room  and  sleeping  coaches."  The  Midland  was  the 
longest  and  most  important  of  three  great  railroads 
which  started  from  London  and  extended  to  Liver- 
pool and  Scotland,  transversing  the  rich  central 
counties  of  England  where  so  few  years  before  the 
coach  horn  had  sounded  through  the  hills.  The 
adoption  of  Pullman  equipment  by  this  prominent 
railroad  was  singularly  conspicuous. 

On  February  15,  1873,  ^^  ^  "half-yearly  meet- 
ing of  the  shareholders  of  the  Midland  Railway," 
Mr.  Pullman  personally  addressed  the  officers  of 
the  company.     It  appears   that  Mr.   Allport,   the 

[61] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 


general  manager  of  the  Midland  Railway,  on  a 
recent  visit  to  the  United  States  and  Canada,  had 
been  greatly  impressed  by  the  accommodations 
afforded  the  traveling  public,  and  had  made  a  par- 
ticular study  of  the  Pullman  cars.  Acting  on  his 
advice  the  directors  invited  Mr.  Pullman  to  England 
to  appear  before  the  meeting.  Mr.  Pullman  pro- 
posed that  the  Midland  Company  should  authorize 
the  speedy  construction  of  carriages  particularly 
adapted  to  their  requirements,  and  a  motion  was 
carried  to  authorize  the  construction  of  such  cars  on 
the  basic  Pullman  principles.  It  was  accordingly 
agreed  that  eighteen  new  cars  should  be  constructed 
in  America  and  shipped  to  England  in  August  and 
that  Mr.  Pullman  should  return  to  England  at  that 
time  to  superintend  their  installation. 

By  the  contract  the  Pullman  Company  agreed  to 
furnish  as  many  dining-room,  drawing-room,  and 
sleeping  cars  as  the  demands  of  the  traveling  pub- 
lic required,  without  charge  to  the  road,  its 
compensation  being  in  the  extra  fare  paid  for  use  of 
the  cars.  The  road,  on  the  other  hand,  received  its 
compensation  in  the  free  use  of  the  cars,  in  return 
for  which  it  guaranteed  to  the  Pullman  Company 

[62] 


THE  PULLMAN  CAR  IN  EUROPE 

the  exclusive  right  to  furnish  such  cars  for  fifteen 
years.  As  in  America,  the  porters,  conductors,  cooks, 
waiters  and  other  attendants  were  hired  by  the  Pull- 
man Company.  Two  night  trains  and  two  day 
trains  of  American  cars  only,  were  to  be  put  on  at 
the  start.  The  contract  was  not  exclusive,  and  other 
English  railroads  watched  with  interest  the  work- 
ing out  of  the  American  innovation. 

The  popularity  of  the  Pullman  car  at  home  and 
abroad  quite  naturally  inspired  a  host  of  imitators. 
Among  the  first  was  Colonel  W.  D.  Mann,  the  pro- 
prietor of  the  Mobile  Register^  who  designed  a 
sleeping  car  embodying  certain  characteristic  Pull- 
man features,  but  divided  transversely  into  compart- 
ments or  "boudoirs,"  each  entered  directly  from 
the  sides,  and  connected  by  a  private  door  permitting 
the  passage  of  the  attendant  to  and  through  the 
several  compartments.  Each  compartment  con- 
tained seats  for  four  persons,  which  by  night  could 
be  made  up  into  beds.  The  design  was  ingenious  but 
failed  in  many  vital  respects  to  compete  with  the 
greater  comfort  and  roominess  of  the  Pullman  car. 

As  the  Pullman  car  was  the  first  sleeping  car  to  be 
installed  for  regular  service  in  England,  so  credit 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

should  be  given  to  Colonel  Mann  for  affording  the 
first  sleeping  car  for  public  service  ever  operated  on 
the  Continent.  Mann's  "Boudoir  Cars"  were 
installed  on  the  Vienna  and  Munich  line  in  1873, 
and  their  favorable  reception  and  popularity  unques- 
tionably went  far  to  better  the  trying  conditions  of 
European  travel. 

Designed  in  America  and  introduced  on  the  con- 
tinent, the  Mann  boudoir  cars  enjoyed  an  almost 
unoccupied  field  in  Europe,  with  the  exception  of 
England,  where  the  railway  managers  had  adopted 
the  Pullman  cars  as  their  standard.  The  Mann  car 
was  developed  to  suit  European  railroads  and 
European  wants.  A  Belgian  company  was  organ- 
ized to  introduce  sleeping  cars  by  contracts  with 
railroad  companies,  somewhat  like  those  of  the  Pull- 
man Company  in  America.  The  Mann  cars  which 
were  put  in  service  in  the  United  States  between 
Boston  and  New  York  in  1883  were  divided  into 
eight  compartments,  some  accommodating  two  per- 
sons, some  four.  The  seats  were  arranged  trans- 
versely instead  of  longitudinally.  Due  to  their 
smaller  passenger  capacity  a  higher  rate  was  neces- 
sarily charged  than  for  Pullman  accommodations. 

[64] 


Interior  of  a  Pullman  car  used  about  1880.     Here  a  tendency  to 
ornamentation  begins  to  show.     Note  the  low-backed  seats 


THE  PULLMAN  CAR  IN  EUROPE 

But  exclusive  possession  of  the  Continental  field 
was  not  left  to  Colonel  Mann  undisputed,  for  during 
the  year  1875  Mr.  Pullman  established  a  shop  at 
Turin,  Italy,  and  under  the  direction  of  a  Mr.  A. 
Rapp,  who  was  sent  on  from  the  Detroit  works,  a 
number  of  cars  were  constructed  for  use  on  through 
trains  on  the  principal  Italian  lines.  The  following 
testimonial  presented  to  Mr.  Rapp  at  the  conclusion 
of  the  work  by  the  men  who  had  been  employed 
expresses,  although  in  none  too  polished  English, 
their  appreciation  of  the  work  that  had  been  pro- 
vided them. 

TO 

PULLMAN  ESQUIRE,  THE  GREAT  INVENTOR 

OF  THE 

SALOON  COMFORTABLE  CARRIAGES 

AND 

MASTER  RAPP  THE   CIVIL  ENGINEER,   DIRECTOR 

OF   THE   MANUFACTURE   OF   THE   SAME 

THE 

ITALIAN    WORKMEN 

BEG   TO   UMILIATE. 

Welcome,  Welcome  Master  Pullman 
The  great  inventor  of  the  Saloon  Carriages, 
Italy  will  be  thankful  to  the  man 
For  now  and  ever,  for  ages  and  ages. 

[65] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

To  Master  Rapp  we  men  are  thankful. 
Cause  of  his  kindness  and  adviser  sages. 
Our  hearts  of  true  gladness  is  full  : 
And  we  shall  remember  him  for  ages. 

Should  Master  Pullman  ever  succeed 
To  continue  is  work  in  Italy 
What  we  wish  to  him  indeed, 

We  hope  to  be  chosen 
To  finish  the  work  and  work  as  a  man, 
To  show  our  gratitude  to  Master  Pullman. 

Find  and  His  Friends. 
Turin,  lo  January  1876. 

The  appearance  of  the  new  Pullman  cars  in  Eng- 
land created  immediate  and  favorable  comment,  for 
not  only  were  the  cars  radical  in  the  service  which 
they  afforded,  but  their  construction,  following  the 
advanced  principles  of  American  car  building,  of- 
fered sharp  contrast  to  the  less  modern  cars  of 
English  construction.  From  the  most  gorgeous  first- 
class  carriage  down  to  the  dumpiest  begrimed  coal 
car,  all  British  railway  conveyances  rested  on  four 
iron  wheels,  placed  in  the  position  where  Artemus 
Ward  located  the  legs  of  the  horse  —  one  at  each 
corner.  Until  the  Pullman  sleepers  were  introduced 
into  Britain,   the  sight  of  a  car  resting  on  eight 

[66] 


THE  PULLMAN  CAR  IN  EUROPE 

wheels  was  unprecedented,  as  no  one  thought  of 
doubting  the  entire  security  from  danger  of  a  carriage 
with  only  four  points  of  support.  Indeed,  the  con- 
servative Briton  saw  no  more  real  necessity  for  a 
railway  carriage  having  eight  wheels  than  for  a  horse 
to  have  more  than  four  legs. 

Under  arrangements  with  the  Great  Northern 
Railway,  Pullman  "dining  room"  carriages  were 
put  in  service  on  November  i,  1879,  between  Leeds 
and  King's  Cross  Station,  London.  Luncheon  and 
dinner  were  served  and  the  menu  included  "soups, 
iish,  entrees,  roast  joints,  puddings  and  fruits  for 
dessert,"  a  truly  English  bill  of  fare.  The  reception 
of  this  innovation  is  described  by  the  London  'tele- 
graphy which  concluded  a  comment  on  the  dining 
car  with  this  friendly  suggestion : 

If  the  British  public  can  be  brought  to  give  this  new 
refreshment-car  system,  just  inaugurated  by  the  Great 
Northern  Railway,  a  fair  trial,  there  will  be  another 
traveling  infliction,  besides  Dyspepsia  and  Discontent, 
which  will  be  speedily  laid  in  the  Red  Sea.  I  mean  the 
ghost  of  Ennui.  Luncheon  or  dinner  on  board  a  Pullman 
palace-car  will  surely  banish  Boredom  from  railway 
journeys. 

By  the  year  1879  Pullman  sleeping  and  drawing 
room  cars  were  in  operation  on  three  English  and 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

three  Scotch  lines,  and  at  the  invitation  of  the 
Italian  Government,  cordially  responded  to  by  the 
Pullman  Palace  Car  Company,  sleeping  cars,  similar 
to  those  in  use  in  England  on  the  Midland  and  Great 
Northern  railways  were  put  in  weekly  service  be- 
tween Brindisi  and  Bologna,  in  connection  with  the 
steamers  of  the  Peninsula  and  Oriental  Company. 
At  Bologna  the  service  was  taken  up  by  the  Belgian 
"Societe  Anonyme  des  Wagons  Lits"  —  an  inter- 
esting recognition  by  a  foreign  government  of  the 
superiority  of  the  American  railway  carriages. 

In  1888  "The  Pullman  Limited  Express"  began 
regular  service  on  the  London,  Brighton,  &  South 
Coast  Line,  between  Victoria  Station  and  Brighton. 
Single  cars  of  the  American  pattern  had  been  run- 
ning on  this  line  for  five  or  six  years,  but  in  this 
train  for  the  first  time  the  English  public  was  offered 
a  "  solid  Pullman  "  equipment.  Four  cars  comprised 
the  train  —  a  parlor  car,  a  drawing  room  car  with 
ladies'  boudoir  and  dining  room,  a  restaurant  car, 
and  a  smoking  car,  while  a  compartment  at  each  end 
of  the  train  next  to  the  luggage  compartment  was 
provided  for  servants.  On  this  train  electric  lighting 
was  first  employed  by  the  Pullman  Company  for 

[68] 


THE  PULLMAN  CAR  IN  EUROPE 

illuminating  railroad  cars  —  a  particular  feature  that 
received  wide  advertisement. 

The  London,  Brighton,  &  South  Coast  Railway 
opened  the  New  Year  of  1889  with  the  first  "vesti- 
bule" train  that  had  ever  greeted  the  eyes  of  for- 
eign travelers.  Three  Pullman  cars,  "Princess," 
"Prince,"  and  "Albert  Victor,"  were  regularly  at- 
tached to  a  train  of  three  first-class  cars.  The  Pull- 
man cars  were  built  at  the  Pullman  plant  at  Detroit, 
Michigan,  and  were  shipped  in  sections  to  England. 
By  this  innovation  Yankee  genius  again  demon- 
strated its  leadership,  and  the  travelers  of  a  distant 
nation  profited  by  the  genius  and  energy  of  an  Amer- 
ican inventor. 

The  Pullman  Company,  Limited,  of  England,  ex- 
isted as  a  property  of  the  American  company  until 
the  year  1906,  when,  due  to  the  enormous  develop- 
ment of  the  system  in  the  United  States,  It  was 
deemed  wise  for  economic  reasons  to  separate  the 
two  companies.  But  today  the  British  company 
still  proudly  bears  the  name  of  Pullman,  a  tribute 
to  the  inventive  genius,  untiring  energy,  and  wide 
vision  of  a  country  boy  of  the  new  world. 


[69] 


V 

The  Survival  of  the  Fittest 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  SURVIVAL  OF  THE  FITTEST 

ONE  of  the  most  interesting  elements  in  the 
history  of  the  Pullman  car  and  the  Pullman 
Company  is  the  story  of  imitation  and  competition 
which  for  a  period  after  the  foundation  of  the  parent 
company  thrived  and  later  disappeared.  The  success 
of  the  Pullman  car  necessarily  brought  competition. 
It  was  wholesome  that  such  competition  should  arise. 
If  a  car  more  convenient  than  the  car  of  Mr.  Pull- 
man's invention  could  be  devised,  it  was  right  that 
it  should  be  given  the  test  of  public  opinion.  That 
no  car  constructed  along  different  basic  lines  sur- 
vived, established  the  right  of  the  Pullman  car  to  its 
preeminence.  That  certain  cars  patterned  after  Mr. 
Pullman's  basic  ideas,  and  in  most  cases  directly  in- 
fringing on  his  patents,  received  a  degree  of  popu- 
larity again  reflects  creditably  to  the  Pullman  car. 

Distinct  from  the  innovations  afforded  by  Pull- 
man car  construction,  the  universal  service  of  the 
Company  afforded  the  public  a  new  service  of  equal 

173] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

value.  Where  formerly  it  was  necessary  for  the 
traveler  to  change  from  car  to  car  whenever  and 
wherever  one  railroad  connected  with  another  line, 
the  uniform  service  of  the  Pullman  Company  created 
a  new  and  infinitely  more  desirable  situation,  for  it 
was  now  possible  to  travel  without  inconvenience  oi 
interruption  between  practically  any  two  points  in 
the  country  regardless  of  the  number  of  different 
railroads  over  whose  tracks  the  traveler's  ticket  re- 
quired passage.  By  competition,  the  value  of  such 
a  service  was  tested;  tested  alike  by  the  individual 
railroads  and  their  patrons.  That  each  and  every 
competing  company  ultimately  retired  from  the  field, 
and  that  practically  every  railroad  in  the  United 
States  has  today  contracted  with  the  Pullman  Com- 
pany for  its  standardized  service,  is  tacit  recognition 
to  the  worth  of  the  service  rendered. 

There  are  still  other  reasons  why  the  control  of 
sleeping  and  parlor  service  should  be  delegated  to  a 
single  company.  Due  to  the  vast  area  embraced  by 
the  boundaries  of  the  United  States  and  the  wide 
range  of  climate  which  these  boundaries  contain, 
there  are  many  railroads  which  require  during  certain 
months  of  the  year  a  larger  number  of  cars  to  trans- 

[74] 


THE  SURVIVAL  OF  THE  FITTEST 

port  their  through  passengers  than  in  others.  Other 
roads  require  an  equally  great  number  of  sleeping  and 
parlor  cars  during  other  months,  as  for  instance  those 
roads  which  carry  the  winter  tourists  to  the  South  and 
Southwest  in  winter  as  opposed  to  the  roads  which 
feel  the  peak  of  passenger  travel  in  summer  when 
the  vacationists  are  headed  for  the  Atlantic  coast 
resorts  or  the  northwestern  mountains.  Again,  there 
are  special  occasions,  like  great  conventions,  when 
the  railroads  touching  the  convention  city  must 
have  hundreds  of  sleeping  cars  above  their  normal 
needs. 

Few  railroads  could  afford  to  tie  up  capital  in  the 
cars  required  for  such  brief  periods  of  demand;  it 
would  be  an  economic  fallacy  to  pass  the  expense  of 
the  maintenance  and  constant  replacement  of  such 
an  equipment  on  to  the  public.  To  meet  this  situa- 
tion is  the  mission  of  the  Pullman  Company. 

Of  the  numerous  sleeping  car  companies  the  Gates 
Sleeping  Car  Company  was  perhaps  the  earliest. 
This  car  was  named  after  Mr.  G.  B.  Gates,  General 
Manager  of  the  Lake  Shore  Road,  and  with  the 
consolidation  of  the  Hudson  River  Railroad  and  the 
New  York  Central  in  1869,  these  cars,  previously 

[75] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

only  operated  on  the  Lake  Shore,  were  put  in  the 
New  York,  Buffalo,  Chicago  service. 

Among  the  various  competitors  of  the  Pullman 
Company,  the  Wagner  Palace  Car  Company,  which 
succeeded,  in  1865,  the  New  York  Central  Sleeping 
Car  Company,  and  absorbed  in  1869  the  Gates 
Sleeping  Car  Company,  developed  by  far  the  widest 
and  most  formidable  competition  and  continued  its 
service  over  the  longest  period.  The  underlying 
reasons  for  the  strength  of  this  competition  lay  pri- 
marily in  the  fact  that  the  Wagner  cars  followed 
more  closely  the  Pullman  characteristics,  and  in 
fact  the  infringement  of  certain  basic  Pullman  pat- 
ents by  the  Wagner  Company  was  a  cause  of 
frequent  litigation  over  a  period  of  many  years. 
Webster  Wagner,  the  founder  of  the  Wagner  Pal- 
ace Car  Company,  began  his  career  as  a  wagon 
maker.  The  first  cars  which  he  constructed  had 
a  single  tier  of  berths,  and  the  bedding  was  packed 
away  by  day  in  a  closet  at  the  end  of  the  car.  Com- 
modore Vanderbilt  backed  Wagner  and  became 
interested  in  his  company,  a  connection  which  gave 
Wagner  invaluable  assistance  and  a  hold  on  the 
sleeping-car  business  of  the  lines  controlled  by  the 

[7^] 


The  latest  Pullman  parlor  car,  showing  simplicity  of  modern  car 

decoration,  combining  quiet  elegance  with 

good  taste  and  comfort 


THE  SURVIVAL  OF  THE  FITTEST 

Vanderbilt  interests,  a  connection  which  enabled 
him  for  many  years  to  be  a  keen  competitor  of  the 
Pullman  Company. 

Early  in  June,  1881,  suit  was  brought  by  the 
Pullman  Palace  Car  Company  against  the  New  York 
Central  Sleeping  Car  Company  and  Webster  Wag- 
ner, claiming  $1,000,000  damages  for  infringement 
and  use  of  patents  in  the  construction  and  use  of 
Wagner  sleeping  coaches.  The  bill  stated  that  in 
1870  the  Wagner  Company  began  building  sleeping 
ears,  and  for  several  years  its  coaches  ran  only  on 
the  New  York  Central  Railroad  and  its  various 
branches.  The  company  finding  it  impossible  to 
build  satisfactory  cars  without  using  the  Pullman 
patents,  contracted  with  the  Pullman  Company  to 
use  certain  of  its  patented  improvements.  This  ar- 
rangement was  made  with  the  distinct  understanding 
that  the  Wagner  Company  was  to  run  its  cars  only 
over  the  New  York  Central  Railroad.  For  five  years 
this  arrangement  was  satisfactorily  carried  out.  But 
in  1875  ^^^  Pullman  Company's  contract  with  the 
Michigan  Central  Railroad  expired  and  the  Wagner 
Company  secured  the  contract  to  run  the  cars  be- 
tween Detroit  and  Chicago,  thus  making  a  through 

[77] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

connection  for  the  Vanderbilt  lines  between  New 
York  and  Chicago. 

By  this  new  routing  of  the  Wagner  cars  direct 
from  New  York  to  Chicago  and  the  elimination  of  the 
Pullman  cars  from  the  Chicago  and  Detroit  service, 
an  opportunity  offered  for  some  other  road  to  avail 
itself  of  the  Pullman  service  and  effect  a  through 
Pullman  service  between  New  York  and  Chicago. 

The  Erie  was  the  road  that  grasped  the  oppor- 
tunity. By  arrangements  with  the  Baltimore  & 
Ohio  and  several  other  roads,  through  Erie  trains 
between  New  York  and  Chicago,  comprising  Pull- 
man hotel  coaches,  sleeping  cars  and  drawing  room 
cars  were  put  in  service  on  November  i,  1875.  A 
circular  published  in  Chicago  announcing  the  new 
arrangement  said : 

From  the  first  of  November,  the  Pullman  hotel  and 
drawing  room  coaches,  for  many  years  so  popular  on  the 
Michigan  Central  line,  will  be  withdrawn  from  that 
route,  and  with  new  and  increased  improvements  will 
thereafter  run  exclusively  on  the  Erie  and  Chicago  line, 
forming  the  first  and  only  Pullman  hotel  coach  line 
between  Chicago  and  New  York. 

The  success  of  the  new  Erie  Pullman  coaches  was 
immediately  assured.  The  hotel  cars  especially  were 
a  great  attraction.     These  were  divided  into  two 

I7S] 


THE  SURVIVAL  OF  THE  FITTEST 

compartments,  in  one  of  which  the  kitchen  was 
located,  the  other  compartment  being  utilized  as  a 
sleeping  car.  First-class  meals,  including  all  manner 
of  game  and  seasonable  delicacies,  were  served  on 
movable  tables  placed  in  the  sections.  In  fact,  the 
New  Tork  "tribune,  in  commenting  on  the  new  Pull- 
man equipment,  asked:  "Should  the  Erie  have  a 
monopoly  of  such  comforts^  Why  does  not  Wag- 
ner imitate  or  improve  upon  Pullman^" 
These  cars  were  nicknamed  "  French  Flats." 

All  the  modern  conveniences  of  a  first-class  house  are 
condensed  into  one  of  these  hotels  on  wheels.  The  beds 
at  night  are  put  away  to  make  room  for  spacious  seats 
by  day,  between  which  a  table  is  placed,  covered  with 
damask  cloths  and  napkins  folded  in  quaint  devices,  at 
which  four  may  sit  with  ease.  The  whole  car  —  a  Pull- 
man—  is  luxuriously  fitted  up,  and  one  end  is  partitioned 
into  a  storeroom  and  kitchen;  there  is  a  smoking-room 
for  lovers  of  the  weed,  and  a  separate  toilet  room  for 
ladies.  As  the  porter  of  the  car  blackens  the  boots,  and 
there  is  a  telegraph  office  at  each  stopping  place,  the 
waggish  question  of  "  Where  is  the  barber  shop  ?  "  is  often 
made.  But  this  may  come,  too,  as  last  summer  an  excur- 
sion party  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  took  a  hair-dresser 
with  them  over  the  Erie  to  Niagara  Falls,  and  two  or 
three  ladies  actually  had  their  hair  crimped  while  travel- 
ing thirty  or  forty  miles  an  hour!  At  this  time,  while 
game  is  plenty  in  the  West,  the  Pullmans,  with  their 

[79] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

facilities,  and  two  fast  trains  each  way  per  day,  are  able 
to  make  a  bill  of  fare  and  serve  it  in  a  style  which  would 
cause  Delmonico  to  wring  his  hands  in  anguish.  The 
service  is  on  the  European  plan ;  that  is,  you  pay  for  what 
you  order,  and  we  give  the  prices  of  the  principal  articles, 
to  show  at  what  a  reasonable  rate  one  can  take  a  superior 
meal  of  fifty  or  a  hundred  miles  long:  Prairie  chicken, 
pheasant,  and  woodcock,  whole,  $i ;  snipe,  quail,  golden 
plover  and  blue-winged  teal,  each  75  cents;  venison,  60 
cents;  chicken,  whole,  75  cents;  cold  tongue,  ham,  and 
corned  beef,  30  cents ;  sardines,  lobster,  and  broiled  ham 
or  bacon,  40  cents ;  mutton  and  lamb  chops,  veal  cutlets,  or 
half  a  chicken,  50  cents ;  sirloin  steak,  50  cents,  &c.  Every 
traveler  who  has  missed  his  dinner  to  catch  a  train  will 
rejoice  in  knowing  that  a  warm  meal  awaits  him  at  the 
cars,  and  that  he  can  wake  up  in  the  morning  and  choose 
his  time  for  breakfast,  instead  of  bolting  it  down  at  the 
twenty  minutes'  convenience  of  the  railroad  company.^ 

Some  time  prior  to  1861  sleeping  cars  were  being 
operated  over  the  Camden  &  Amboy  and  Baltimore 
&  Ohio  railroads.  These  cars  were  known  as 
"Knight"  cars,  after  their  designer,  E.  C.  Knight. 
The  "Knights"  were  built  at  a  cost  of  about 
$7,000,  and  were  regarded  as  the  handsomest  things 
on  wheels.  As  in  the  bunk  cars,  all  of  which  found 
their  model  in  the  sleeping  arrangements  of  the  canal 
boat,  the  berths  were  only  on  one  side  of  the  car  and 

1  New  York  Commercial  Advertiser ^  Nov.  30,  1875. 

[80] 


THE  SURVIVAL  OF  THE  FITTEST 

consisted  of  a  triple  tier  of  two  double  and  one  single 
berth;  an  arrangement  later  changed  to  one  double 
and  two  single  berths. 

The  Woodruff  sleeping  car  also  was  designed 
about  this  time  by  T.  T.  Woodruff,  Master  Car 
Builder  of  the  Terre  Haute  &  Alton  Railroad.  In 
this  car  both  sides  of  the  car  were  utilized  as  in 
the  Pullman  car,  and  the  sleeping  accommodations 
consisted  of  twelve  sections,  six  on  a  side.  A  com- 
pany was  formed  to  operate  the  Woodruff  cars  in 
1871,  with  a  capital  of  $100,000. 

The  Flower  Sleeping  Car  Company  was  another 
characteristic  competitor.  This  short-lived  company 
was  organized  in  1882  in  Bangor,  Maine,  with  a 
capital  of  $500,000.  The  seats  in  this  new  car  were 
placed  in  the  middle  instead  of  on  the  sides  of  the 
cars,  thus  leaving  an  aisle  on  each  side  instead  of  one 
in  the  center.  Claims  were  made  that  a  freer  circula- 
tion of  air  would  result,  and  a  news  item  of  the 
^imes  further  recommended  this  unique  construction 
as  more  convenient  to  families,  the  berths  being  so 
arranged,  side  by  side,  that  two  could  be  made  up 
into  a  double  bed. 

Mann's  Boudoir  Car  Company  was  incorporated 

[81] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

in  1883,  with  a  capital  of  $1,000,000,  and  experi- 
enced considerable  popularity  due  to  their  unique 
arrangement,  which  has  been  described  in  a  previous 
chapter. 

In  1883  the  Erie  Railroad  realized  the  long  enter- 
tained ambition  of  entering  Chicago  on  its  own  rails. 
To  accomplish  this,  the  Erie  had  leased  the  New 
York,  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  Railroad  and  built  the 
Chicago  &  Atlantic.  Through  connection  was  actually 
made  May  15,  on  which  date  freight  traffic  was 
begun. 

The  train  by  which  the  Erie  inaugurated  the  pas- 
senger business  over  the  new  trunk  line  was  probably 
the  most  complete  and  elegant  train  ever  to  that 
time  constructed.  All  of  the  cars  were  of  Pullman 
manufacture  and  consisted  of  a  baggage  car,  second- 
class  coach,  a  smoking  car,  and  first-class  coaches  and 
sleepers  that  were  "models  of  perfection  and  beauty, 
as  might  be  expected  where  the  Pullman  Company 
had  carte  blanche  to  produce  the  best  possible.'* 
Each  coach  was  lighted  with  the  new  Pintsch  lights. 
The  smoking  car  deserves  more  than  passing  men- 
tion, for  it  was  the  first  one  ever  constructed  of 
Pullman  standard.     The  car  was   equipped  with 

[82] 


THE  SURVIVAL  OF  THE  FITTEST 

upholstered  easy  chairs,  and  a  **  refreshment  buffet  " 
moistened  the  throats  of  the  smokers. 

Early  in  1889  the  Pullman  Company  acquired  the 
control  of  the  Mann  Boudoir  Car  Company  and  the 
Woodruff  Sleeping  Car  Company,  including  the  en- 
tire car  equipment  and  plants.  By  this  acquisition 
a  long  step  was  taken  for  the  unification  of  sleeping 
car  service,  and  the  further  development  of  a  uni- 
form and  widely  extended  scope  of  operations.  For 
years  the  success  of  the  Pullman  Company's  service 
had  been  too  generally  acknowledged  to  escape  the 
notice  of  enterprising  railroad  men,  and  these  two 
companies  were  fair  examples  of  the  numerous  com- 
peting companies  that  were  organized.  But  the  suc- 
cess of  the  Pullman  service  was  based  on  an  idea 
of  too  wide  conception  ever  to  be  successfully  imi- 
tated. The  success  of  the  company  engendered  com- 
petition; its  success  resulted  only  in  a  comparison 
of  service  injurious  to  the  imitators.  Behind  all  this 
lay  the  fundamental  reason  for  Pullman  supremacy. 
Created  to  give  a  standardized  service  everywhere 
for  the  convenience  of  travelers,  it  was  quickly  ap- 
parent that  competition  was  but  a  reversal  to  the  old 
order  —  the  more  companies,  the  less  uniform  service. 

[83] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

About  a  month  previous,  the  Mann  Boudoir  Com- 
pany and  the  Woodruff  Sleeping  Car  Company  had 
joined  hands  and  formed  the  Union  Palace  Car 
Company.  By  the  purchase  of  this  combine  the 
Pullman  Company  added  about  15,000  miles  of  road 
to  that  already  operated,  and  by  that  many  miles 
extended  its  through  car  service.  The  only  remain- 
ing sleeping  car  companies  of  any  importance  outside 
of  the  Pullman  Company  were  the  Wagner  Com- 
pany, belonging  to  the  Vanderbilts,  and  operated 
over  the  Vanderbilt  lines,  and  the  Monarch  Sleeping 
Car  Company,  which  operated  entirely  in  the  New 
England  States  with  the  exception  of  one  Ohio  line. 
A  newspaper  of  the  time  commented  on  the  merger, 
and  closed  with  the  verdict:  "While  this  will  add 
to  the  volume  of  the  Pullman  business,  it  will  also 
render  the  service  upon  the  absorbed  lines  far  more 
efficient  and  satisfactory  for  the  traveling  public." 

In  1888,  Mr.  Pullman  had  put  in  operation  his 
vestibule  trains,  which  immediately  met  with  ex- 
traordinary favor  and  patronage.  In  a  very  few 
days  the  Wagner  Company  also  advertised  a  vesti- 
bule train  and  were  promptly  met  with  an  injunction 
holding  the  Wagner  appliances  to  be  an  infringe- 

[84] 


The  first  step  in  the  building  of  the  car.    The  center  construction 
in  position,  and  the  framework  assembled 


THE  SURVIVAL  OF  THE  FITTEST 

ment  of  the  Pullman  patent.  After  another  hearing, 
the  injunction  was  superseded,  the  Wagner  Company 
giving  an  unlimited  bond,  signed  by  the  Vander- 
bilts,  to  pay  any  damages  ascertained  by  the  courts. 
After  months  occupied  in  taking  the  evidence  of 
travelers,  expert  mechanics,  railroad  officials,  promi- 
nent citizens,  and  others,  a  final  hearing  was  had. 
The  judges,  ow'ng  to  the  vast  interests  involved  and 
the  legal  difficulties  presented,  took  ample  time  for 
consideration,  but  finally  adhered  to  their  first  con- 
clusion. The  main  feature  of  the  Pullman  vestibule 
system  was  the  Sessions  patent,  without  which  the 
vestibule  system  was  worthless.  The  court  declared 
this  invention  to  be  of  the  highest  order  of  utility, 
not  only  as  shown  by  the  testimony  in  the  ease  and 
the  adoption  of  the  patent  by  the  principal  railroads 
of  the  country,  but  also  by  the  acts  of  the  Wagner 
Company  in  appropriating  the  device,  and  in  the 
tenacity  with  which  they  clung  to  it  in  the  courts 
under  an  immense  bond  for  any  damages  to  result, 
and  so,  in  April,  1889,  the  United  States  Circuit 
Court  delivered  its  opinion  in  favor  of  the  Pullman 
Palace  Car  Company  in  its  long  and  stubborn  fight 
with  the  Wagner  Palace  Car  Company. 

[85] 


VI 
The  Town  of  Pullman 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  TOWN  OF  PULLMAN 

LIKE  most  Other  industries,  the  Pullman  Palace 
-'  Car  Company  felt  the  effect  of  the  financial 
depression  immediately  following  1873,  but  the  re- 
action followed,  and  on  the  resumption  of  specie 
payments  in  1879  dawned  a  new  era  in  the  Com- 
pany's history  and  a  rapid  expansion  of  its  business. 
To  meet  this  expansion  and  to  extend  the  business 
still  farther  along  the  line  of  general  car  building, 
it  became  necessary  to  enlarge  the  plant.  The  shops 
already  established  in  St.  Louis,  Detroit,  Elmira, 
and  Wilmington  were  unable  to  provide  the  volume 
required  by  the  increasing  demand  for  the  Com- 
pany's output.  It  was  evident  that  new  shops  must 
be  built  on  a  larger  and  more  comprehensive  scale 
than  any  that  had  gone  before. 

In  1879  ^^^  Chicago  newspapers  were  alert  to  con- 
firm the  rumor  that  George  M.  Pullman  was  plan- 
ning to  locate  his  new  shops  at  Chicago.  The 
following  year  the  rumor  became  fact  and  the  ques- 

[89] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

tion  of  the  exact  location  became  of  paramount 
interest. 

Chicago  with  its  central  position  with  reference 
to  the  railway  systems  of  the  continent,  seemed  the 
natural  site,  but  there  were  weighty  objections, 
touching  both  finance  and  the  matter  of  labor,  to  be 
urged  against  building  within  the  city  limits  proper. 
Sites  were  visited  by  representatives  of  the  Company 
at  Hinsdale,  Illinois,  and  Wolf  Lake,  Indiana,  but 
in  April  it  was  definitely  announced  that  the  works 
would  be  located  on  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  on 
the  shore  of  Lake  Calumet.  A  Chicago  newspaper 
commented  on  the  decision  of  the  Company  as  fol- 
lows : 

A  notable  addition  to  Chicago's  mercantile  industry  is 
to  be  the  extensive  car  works  of  the  Pullman  Palace  Car 
Company,  ground  for  which  is  to  be  broken  today.  A 
larger  establishment  for  manufacturing  purposes  will  not 
exist  in  the  West,  and  while  it  will  contain  all  the  latest 
and  most  improved  mechanical  appliances  in  use,  it  will 
embody  in  its  architecture  grace  and  beauty  that  is  quite 
characteristic  of  the  palace  car.  The  works  are  to  cost 
$1,000,000;  about  2,000  men  are  to  be  employed  in  them, 
and  the  extended  arrangement  of  machinery  is  to  be 
moved  by  the  Corliss  engine,  one  of  the  Centennial  won- 
ders, which  has  been  purchased  by  the  Pullmans. 

[90] 


■S  8 

5 


THE  TOWN  OF  PULLMAN 


An  interesting  personal  reminiscence  of  this  famous 
real  estate  operation  may  be  found  in  Frederick 
Francis  Cook's  Bygone  Days  in  Chicago. 

Another  "Pullman  scoop"  was  of  an  extraordinary 
real-estate  and  manufacturing  interest  when  "nego- 
tiated" —  the  slang  to  be  accepted  for  once  in  its  proper 
meaning.  In  the  later  seventies,  besides  other  duties,  I 
had  charge  of  the  real-estate  department  of  the  Times. 
It  became  known  that  the  Pullman  Company  intended  to 
build  a  manufacturing  town  somewhere,  but  whether  in 
the  environs  of  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  Kansas  City,  or  other 
western  point,  was  for  the  pubHc  an  open  question  for 
many  months  —  and,  I  dare  say,  for  a  time  was  an  unset- 
tled proposition  with  the  company  itself,  for  St.  Louis 
offered  large  inducements  in  the  way  of  land  grants. 
What  finally  turned  the  scales  in  favor  of  Chicago, 
according  to  Mr.  Pullman's  declaration  to  me,  was  the 
more  favorable  climatic  conditions  presented  by  Chicago. 
It  was  his  contention  that  during  the  summer  a  man 
could  do  at  least  ten  per  cent  more  work  near  Lake  Michi- 
gan than  in  the  Mississippi  Valley  in  the  latitude  of 
St.  Louis. 

During  many  disturbing  weeks — for  the  whole  real- 
estate  market  in  at  least  three  cities  waited  on  the  deci- 
sion—  frequent  announcements  were  made  that  the 
directors  of  the  company,  or  its  committee  on  site,  had 
inspected  this  locality,  or  that,  in  the  vicinity  of  one  city 
or  another,  and  so  the  wearisome  time  went  on.  Many 
places  were  visited  about  Chicago — some  to  the  north, 
some  on  the  Desplaines,  some  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 

[91] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

Canal,  but  somehow  none  near  Calumet  Lake,  a  fact 
which  finally  aroused  my  suspicions.  In  the  meantime, 
unverifiable  reports  of  large  transactions  in  that  locality 
floated  about  in  real-estate  circles.  Finally,  I  pinned 
down  an  actual  sale  of  large  dimensions,  with  Colonel 
"  Jim  "  Bowen  as  the  ostensible  purchaser.  That  opened 
my  eyes,  for  the  colonel's  circumstances  at  this  time  put 
such  a  transaction  on  his  own  account  altogether  out  of 
the  question. 

Almost  daily  at  this  time  Mr.  Pullman  was  inter- 
viewed on  the  situation  by  the  real-estate  newspaper 
phalanx  —  Henry  D.  Lloyd  was  then  in  charge  for  the 
Tribune — but  "nothing  decided,"  was  the  stereotyped 
reply.  By  and  by  I  discovered  that  almost  invariably  if 
I  went  at  a  certain  hour,  "  Colonel  Jim  "  would  be  largely 
in  evidence  about  the  Pullman  headquarters,  with  an  air 
of  doing  a  "land-office  business,''  and,  as  it  turned  out, 
he  was  actually  doing  something  very  much  like  it. 
Slowly  I  picked  up  clue  after  clue,  pieced  this  to  that, 
and  one  day  felt  in  a  position  to  say  to  Mr.  Pullman  that 
I  had  located  the  site.  He  seemed  amused,  and  laugl> 
ingly  replied  that  he  was  pleased  to  hear  it,  as  it  would 
save  the  committee  on  site  a  lot  of  trouble ;  and,  as  some 
of  them  were  that  very  day  looking  at  a  Desplaines  River 
site  near  Riverside  —  a  trip  most  ostentatiously  adver- 
tised in  advance  —  he  thought  he  would  telegraph  them 
to  stop  looking,  and  come  back  to  town. 

It  was  always  a  pleasure  to  interview  Mr.  Pullman,  for 
he  had  a  way  of  making  you  feel  at  ease,  and  I  entered 
heartily  into  the  humor  of  his  jocularity.  But,  as  in  a 
bantering  way,  I  let  out  link  after  link  of  my  chain  of 
evidence,  he  became  more  and  more  serious,  and  finally  — 

[92] 


THE  TOWN  OF  PULLMAN 


without  committing  himself,  however  —  took  the  ground 
that  even  if  true,  in  view  of  the  importance  of  their  plans, 
no  paper  having  the  good  of  Chicago  at  heart  ought  by 
premature  publication  to  interfere  with  them.  He 
pressed  this  point  more  and  more,  and  finally  made  frank 
confession  that  I  was  on  the  right  track,  by  acknowledg- 
ing that  they  had  already  bought  many  hundreds  of 
acres,  were  negotiating  for  many  hundreds  more  which 
would  be  advanced  to  prohibitive  prices  by  publication, 
and  the  whole  scheme  would  thus  be  wrecked.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  I  withheld  publication,  he  promised  that  I 
should  have  the  matter  exclusively  —  the  whole  vast 
improvement  scheme,  unique  plan  of  administration,  etc. 
-As  there  was  the  danger  in  waiting  that  one  of  my  rivals 
might  get  hold  of  the  facts,  exploit  them,  and  thus  turn 
the  tables  on  me,  I  replied  that  the  matter  was  of  too 
great  moment  for  me  to  take  the  responsibility  of  holding 
the  news,  and  that  I  should  have  to  consult  Mr.  Storey. 
It  happened  that  Mr.  Storey  had  invested  quite  exten- 
sively in  South  Side  boulevard  property;  and,  as  a  great 
improvement  southward  could  not  fail  to  add  to  the  value 
of  his  holding,  and  there  was  the  further  prospect  of  a 
more  complete  exclusive  account  later  than  was  possible 
with  my  skeleton  information,  he  gave  a  ready  assent. 

The  town  of  Pullman  meant  far  more  in  the  mind 
of  its  founder  than  a  mere  industrial  establishment. 
The  dreary,  water-soaked  prairie  was  raised  to  high, 
dry  land;  an  entire  town  was  planned  and  blocked 
out  following  Mr.  Pullman's  own  design.    Architects 

[93] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

and  landscape  architects  worked  together  to  carry 
out  the  plan  to  a  harmonious  and  pleasing  fulfill- 
ment. Among  the  more  prominent  details  of  this 
vast  work  were  included  a  system  by  which  the 
sewage  of  the  town,  was  collected  and  pumped  far 
away  to  the  Pullman  produce  farm;  the  equipment 
of  every  house  and  flat  regardless  of  rental  with  the 
most  modern  appliances  of  water,  gas,  and  plumbing; 
the  establishment  of  athletic  fields ;  the  concentration 
of  the  merchandising  of  the  town  under  the  glass 
roof  of  the  central  arcade  building,  and  the  construc- 
tion of  a  handsome  market  house,  a  fine  schoolhouse 
to  accommodate  a  thousand  pupils,  a  library  contain- 
ing over  8,000  volumes,  a  savings  bank  and  a  large 
and  artistically  decorated  theater.  The  population 
of  Pullman  in  January,  1881,  counted  four  souls. 
In  February,  1882,  there  were  2,084  inhabitants,  a 
total  which  had  increased  to  8,203  by  September, 
1884. 

A  contemporary  writer  closes  an  enthusiastic  de- 
scription of  the  town  of  Pullman  with  the  following 
paragraph : 

Imag-ine  a  perfectly  equipped  town  of  12,000  inhabi- 
tants, built  out  from  one  central  thought  to  a  beautiful 

[94] 


Preparing  the  steel   frame   for  the  upper  section  of  a  Pullman 
sleeping  car 


V 


I 


Sand  blasting  the  brass  trimmings  of  the  car  before  appljang 
the  finish 


THE  TOWN  OF  PULLMAN 


and  harmonious  whole.  A  town  that  is  bordered  with 
bright  beds  of  flowers  and  green  velvety  stretches  of 
lawn;  that  is  shaded  with  trees  and  dotted  with  parks 
and  pretty  water  vistas,  and  glimpses  here  and  there  of 
artistic  sweeps  of  landscape  gardening;  a  town  where 
the  homes,  even  to  the  most  modest,  are  bright  and  whole- 
some and  filled  with  pure  air  and  light;  a  town,  in  a 
word,  where  all  that  is  ugly,  and  discordant,  and  demora- 
lizing, is  eliminated,  and  all  that  inspires  to  self-respect, 
to  thrift  and  to  cleanliness  of  person  and  of  thought  is 
generously  provided.  Imagine  all  this,  and  try  to  picture 
the  empty,  sodden  morass  out  of  which  this  beautiful 
vision  was  reared,  and  you  will  then  have  some  idea  of 
the  splendid  work,  in  its  physical  aspects  at  least,  which 
the  far-reaching  plan  of  Mr.  Pullman  has  wrought.^ 

1  The  Story   of  Pullman,  prepared   for   distribution   at  the 
World's  Fair,  1893. 


[95] 


VII 
Inventions  and  Improvements 


CHAPTER  VII 

INVENTIONS  AND  IMPROVEMENTS 

THE  invention  of  the  folding  upper  berth  com- 
bination by  Mr.  Pullman  was  the  first  of  many 
contributions  by  himself,  and  in  later  years  by  the 
Pullman  Company  and  those  associated  with  it,  to  the 
development  of  railway  travel.  Sleeping  cars  for 
a  number  of  years  had  given  night  accommodations 
to  travelers;  there  was  nothing  new  in  the  idea  that 
a  night  journey  required  sleeping  accommodations. 
But  in  the  new  and  radical  berth  construction  de- 
vised by  Mr.  Pullman  lay  the  difference  between 
impracticability  and  practicability — between  dis- 
comfort and  luxury. 

The  earliest  sleeping  cars  were  mere  bunk  cars  in 
which  the  male  passengers  might  recline  during  the 
night  hours.  Later,  bedding  was  furnished,  but  the 
necessity  of  storing  it  by  day  in  a  closet  at  the  end 
of  the  cars  created  a  situation  in  which  order  and 
cleanliness  were  far  from  practicable.  By  the  Pull- 
man invention,  however,  all  this  was  changed.     A 

[99] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

type  of  car  was  developed  that  was  not  only  com- 
fortable and  convenient  for  day  travel,  but  one  that 
might  be  quickly  transformed  into  a  comfortable 
sleeping  apartment.  Furthermore,  the  new  upper 
berth  construction  made  it  possible  to  pack  away  by 
day  the  entire  bedding,  mattresses,  curtains,  and 
partitions  necessary  to  convert  each  section  into  a 
double  sleeping  apartment. 

With  this  simple  mechanical  innovation  the  in- 
ventor combined  an  idea  characterized  by  a  breadth 
of  vision  that  ranks  with  the  great  ideas  of  the  cen- 
tury. In  few  words,  he  conceived  the  thought  that 
it  would  be  possible  at  one  stroke  to  supplant  the 
inadequate  and  inefficient  service  of  the  day  with  a 
new  service  so  complete  in  its  comforts  and  con- 
veniences that  no  one  might  express  a  wish  that  the 
service  might  be  unable  to  fulfill. 

It  is  interesting,  in  passing,  to  consider  the  fact 
that  up  to  the  development  of  the  Pullman  car, 
night  trains  were  patronized  exclusively  by  men,  for 
no  woman  would  have  considered  subjecting  herself 
to  the  inconvenience  and  lack  of  privacy  of  the 
ordinary  sleeping  car.  The  development  of  the  Pull- 
man car  and  Pullman  service  made  continuous  day 

[  100  ] 


View  of   machine   section.     Steel  Erecting   Sliops 


Fitting  up  the  steel  car  underframe.     Steel  Erecting  Shops 


INVENTIONS  AND  IMPROVEMENTS 

and  night  travel  practical  for  women  and  children; 
it  created  the  comforts  and  privacies  they  naturally 
required.  To  be  sure  it  was  several  years  before  the 
new  order  of  things  received  general  recognition,  but 
the  public  quickly  caught  on.  "  Travel  by  Pullman  " 
soon  became  a  popular  diversion. 

The  story  of  the  early  years  of  the  Pullman  sleep- 
ing car  has  been  told  in  the  foregoing  chapters.  Due 
in  large  measure  to  the  comfort  and  convenience  of 
the  cars,  continuous  travel  lengthened,  and  at  once 
arose  the  necessity  for  eating  as  well  as  sleeping 
accommodations  on  the  through  long-distance  trains. 

For  a  number  of  years  foreign  travelers  in  America 
had  praised  the  elaborate  restaurant  service  afforded 
by  certain  station  eating-houses.  Towns  developed 
keen  rivalry  in  respect  to  the  meals  provided  by  their 
station  ''counters,"  and  the  station  restaurants  of 
certain  towns  developed  among  constant  travelers  a 
reputation  for  unusual  culinary  excellence.  Our 
fathers  will  doubtless  recall  the  glorious  fame  of 
dining  rooms  at  Poughkeepsie,  Springfield,  and  Al- 
toona,  and  of  certain  dishes  that  enjoyed  nation-wide 
reputation  and  might  be  had  only  at  this  or  that  par- 
ticular station  restaurant. 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  uninviting,  indigestible 
nature  of  the  so-called  refreshment  offered  at  some 
railway  eating  stations  had  long  been  a  byword.  In 
most  sections  of  the  country  it  was  practically  im- 
possible to  procure  a  respectable  meal  or  lunch  while 
traveling.  Railway  officials  had  wrestled  with  the 
subject  in  vain.  Recognizing  the  fact  that  the  heart 
of  the  railway  traveler  is  most  susceptible  to  in- 
fluences reaching  it  by  way  of  his  stomach,  they 
made  repeated  and  continued  endeavors  to  improve 
the  fare  offered  during  the  "twenty  minutes  for 
dinner  "  stops.  With  a  few  exceptions  the  results 
were  not  encouraging,  and  the  traveling  public  con- 
tinued its  dyspeptic  round  three  times  a  day. 

The  station  eating-house  was  on  an  unsound  basis, 
and  its  disadvantages  were  obvious.  With  the  in- 
crease of  the  speed  of  through  trains  and  the  demand 
for  shorter  running  times  between  terminals  it  be- 
came quickly  apparent  that  a  train  could  not  be 
stopped  three  times  a  day  to  permit  the  passengers 
to  gorge  a  hasty  meal  at  the  station  restaurant. 
Three  meals  at  a  minimum  of  twenty  minutes  each 
was  an  hour  lost,  and  twenty  minutes  for  eating 
was  as  bad  for  the  passenger  as  it  was  for  the  running 

[  102  ] 


INVENTIONS  AND  IMPROVEMENTS 

time  of  the  trains.  There  were  still  other  disad- 
vantages. In  addition  to  the  delay  of  the  train  and 
the  tax  on  the  passenger's  digestion,  there  was  the 
frequent  discomfort  of  wet  or  wintry  weather.  On 
a  fine  day  it  was  well  enough  to  "stretch  one's  legs," 
but  in  rain  or  snow  the  tri-daily  evacuation  of  the 
car  was  a  decidedly  unpopular  feature. 

The  installation  of  "hotel-car"  service  by  the 
Pullman  Company  sang  the  knell  of  the  station 
eating-coimter.  The  "President,"  a  car  combining 
sleeping  and  eating  accommodations,  was  put  in 
service  in  1867  on  the  Grand  Trunk  Railway,  then 
the  Great  Western  of  Canada.  Its  instant  success 
necessitated  the  building  of  the  "Kalamazoo"  and 
"  Western  World,"  and  in  the  years  immediately  fol- 
lowing many  hotel  cars  were  put  in  service. 

The  second  step  in  the  evolution  was  inevitable. 
At  best,  the  hotel  car  was  only  a  sleeping  car  with 
restaurant  accommodations.  Eating  and  sleeping 
have  never  been  associated  in  the  modern  mind; 
there  must  be  a  separate  place  for  each. 

To  meet  the  demand,  or  rather  to  anticipate  a  de- 
mand which  his  keen  eyes  foresaw,  Mr.  Pullman  set 
himself  to  the  task  of  developing  a  car  which  would 

[  103  ] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

be  only  a  dining  car,  serving  no  other  purpose,  and 
practical  for  operation  in  conjunction  with  through 
trains  of  the  fastest  speed.  The  first  real  dining 
car  which  Mr.  Pullman  constructed  was  aptly  named 
the  "  Delmonico."  It  was  a  complete  restaurant 
with  a  large  kitchen  and  pantries  at  one  end.  The 
main  body  of  the  car  was  fitted  up  as  a  dining  room 
in  which  the  passengers  from  all  the  cars  of  the  train 
could  enter  and  take  their  meals  with  entire  comfort. 
The  "  Delmonico"  was  put  in  regular  service  in  1868 
on  the  Chicago  &  Alton,  and  other  Pullman  diners 
were  added  the  same  year.  At  about  the  same  time 
the  Michigan  Central  and  the  Chicago,  Burlington 
&  Ouincy  Railroads  also  began  to  operate  dining 
cars  on  their  trains.  To  the  Chicago  &  Alton,  how- 
ever, belongs  the  honor  of  having  first  inaugurated 
the  dining-car  system.  The  Michigan  Central  and 
Burlington  did  not  put  on  dining  cars  until  1875. 
The  Chicago  &  Alton  dining  cars  were  run  between 
Chicago  and  St.  Louis,  and  were  constructed  and 
managed  by  Mr.  Pullman.  The  price  for  a  meal 
was  $1.00.  Later  the  Alton  acquired  an  interest 
in  the  dining  cars,  and  finally  assumed  full  control 
of  them, 

[  104  ] 


Making  the   cushions   for   the   seats.     Upholstery   Department 


Making  the  chairs  for  the  parlor  cars.     Upholstery  Department 


INVENTIONS  AND  IMPROVEMENTS 

Although  founded  and  developed,  and  for  a  num- 
ber of  years  successfully  operated  by  the  Pullman 
Company,  the  dining  car  is  no  longer  under  its  man- 
agement. Due  primarily  to  the  vast  increase  in  this 
particular  share  of  the  business  and  the  variety  of 
service  required  by  travelers  in  different  sections  of 
the  country,  it  became  advisable  to  turn  over  to  the 
various  roads  the  details  of  catering  to  their  par- 
ticular patrons.  On  some  of  the  leading  railroads 
the  highest  type  of  dining-car  service  is  maintained 
and  advertised  as  a  particular  feature.  On  other 
roads  of  lesser  prominence  a  corresponding  degree  of 
service  may  be  found.  It  is,  perhaps,  unfortunate 
from  the  point  of  view  of  the  traveler  that  the  Pull- 
man Company  found  it  necessary  to  discontinue  a 
service  that  it  had  so  auspiciously  inaugurated. 

The  installation  of  dining-car  service  immediately 
drew  attention  to  a  serious  defect  in  railway  train 
construction  that  had  previously  escaped  notice,  a 
defect  which  was  the  more  apparent  in  comparison 
with  the  relatively  high  development  of  other  fea- 
tures of  train  construction.  By  the  adoption  of  the 
dining  car  it  became  necessary  for  the  passengers  to 
pass  from  car  to  car  across  the  platform  while  the 

[105] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

train  was  in  motion,  and  often  during  a  condition 
of  rain  and  snow  which  added  discomfort  to  actual 
danger.  Where  the  crossing  of  platforms  while  the 
train  was  in  motion  had  formerly  been  prohibited, 
the  railroads  were  now  forced  to  encourage  pas- 
sengers to  subject  themselves  to  this  dangerous  pro- 
cedure in  order  that  they  might  avail  themselves  of 
the  convenience  of  the  dining  cars. 

Attempts  had  been  made  at  different  times  to  pro- 
vide a  safe  and  covered  passageway  between  the  cars, 
especially  on  fast  express  trains,  but  nothing  of  a 
practical  nature  had  resulted.  In  1852  and  1855 
patents  were  taken  out  for  canvas  devices  to  connect 
adjoining  cars  and  create  a  passage  way  between 
them.  These  appliances  were  installed  in  1857  on 
a  train  on  the  Naugatuck  Railroad,  in  Connecticut, 
but  soon  proved  to  be  of  little  practical  use  and  were 
abandoned  several  years  later. 

But  in  1886  Mr.  Pullman,  realizing  the  handicap 
of  existing  conditions  to  the  full  enjoyment  of  the 
various  types  of  cars  which  he  had  established,  set 
himself  to  the  solving  of  the  problem  by  devising  a 
perfect  system  for  constructing  continuous  trains  and 
at  the  same  time  providing  sufficient  flexibility  in  the 

[106] 


,  ■     i 

--!"• 

The  frame  end  posts  for  Pullman  standard  cars  are  made  in  this 
section  of  the  shops 


The  assembling  of  the  steel  car  partitions  is  shown  in  this  picture 


INVENTIONS  AND  IMPROVEMENTS 

connecting  passage  ways  to  allow  for  the  motion  of 
the  train,  particularly  when  rounding  curves.  The 
result  of  his  efforts  combined  with  those  of  his  asso- 
ciates was  the  complete  solution  of  the  problem  and 
the  establishment  of  the  "vestibule"  train,  prac- 
tically as  it  exists  today.  The  vestibule  patent  was 
granted  to  Mr.  H.  H.  Sessions,  of  the  Pullman  Com- 
pany, and  covered  many  important  features,  and 
particularly  the  arrangement  of  the  springs  which 
kept  the  cars  in  line  in  a  vertical  plane. 

The  vestibule  was  patented  in  1887.  By  its  ap- 
plication the  appearance  of  the  train  as  a  unit  was 
materially  increased,  but  of  far  greater  importance 
was  the  contribution  which  it  made  to  safety.  Not 
only  did  the  enclosed  vestibule  afford  protection  to 
passengers  crossing  the  platform  from  one  car  to  an- 
other, but  the  entire  vestibule  construction  imme- 
diately gave  greater  safety  in  case  of  wreck  by 
preventing  one  platform  from  "riding"  the  other 
and  producing  a  telescoping  of  the  cars. 

The  vestibule  as  designed  and  patented  did  not 
extend  to  the  full  width  of  the  car.  It  consisted  of 
elastic  diaphragms  on  steel  frames  attached  to  the 
ends  of  the  cars,  the  faces  of  the  diaphragms  when 

[107] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 


the  train  was  made  up,  pressing  firmly  against  each 
other  by  powerful  spiral  springs  which  held  them  in 
position.    A  further  advantage  of  the  vestibule  was 


The  vestibule  was  invented  by  George  M.  Pullman.  This 
illustration  shows  its  earliest  form  which  extended  only  to  the  width 
of  the  doorway  of  the  car.  In  1893  it  was  extended  to  the  full 
width  of  the  car* 

fioSl 


INVENTIONS  AND  IMPROVEMENTS 

the  almost  entire  elimination  of  the  oscillation  of 
the  cars. 

The  first  vestibuled  trains  were  put  in  service  in 
April,  1887,  on  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  and  in  a 
few  years  were  adopted  by  every  railroad  using  Pull- 
man equipment.  In  1893  the  vestibule  was  re- 
designed to  enclose  the  entire  platform  by  means  of 
a  drop  which  lowered  over  the  stair  openings,  thus 
increasing  the  roominess  of  the  car  and  utilizing 
every  inch  of  possible  space. 

In  the  Railway  Review  of  April  16,  1887,  occurs 
an  interesting  description  of  the  first  "  solid- vesti- 
buled" train.  For  a  number  of  months  following, 
this  radical  innovation  was  widely  recognized  by  the 
press  throughout  the  country,  and  Pullman  vesti- 
buled cars  were  advertised  by  the  railroads  on  which 
they  were  operated.  We  quote  in  part  from  the 
article  in  the  Raihvay  Reviezo: 

This  week  there  was  turned  out  of  the  Pullman  works, 
at  Pullman,  111.,  a  train  of  three  sleepers,  one  dining  car, 
and  one  combination  baggage  and  smoker,  that  for  per- 
fection, in  detail  of  manufacture  and  ornament,  and  in 
completeness  of, comfort  and  luxury,  is  unquestionably 
far  ahead  of  any  train  ever  before  made  up.  This  train 
was  on  public  exhibition  for  a  few  days  at  Chicago,  and  on 

[109] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 


Friday  was  taken  on  its  christening  trip,  over  a  short  run 
on  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad.  The  train  is  intended 
for  "  Limited  "  service  on  the  Pennsylvania  system. 

The  trial  trip  was  a  success  in  every  way.  The  train 
went  to  Otto,  a  short  distance  south  of  Kankakee,  sixty 
miles  from  Chicago.  There  it  was  reversed  on  a  Y,  and 
an  opportunity  afforded  of  witnessing  its  operation  on  a 
sharp  curve.  The  action  of  the  flexible  connection  of  the 
vestibules  was  perfect.  On  the  return  trip  the  train  was 
run  at  a  high  rate  of  speed,  and  it  was  evident  that  the 
cars  were  held  very  firmly  together,  by  the  springs  at  the 
top  of  the  vestibules,  and  that  there  was  much  less  jarring 
and  swaying  than  is  usual  even  on  a  very  level  track. 

The  list  of  business  men  and  railroad  managers 
who  made  up  the  party  indicates  the  importance  of 
the  occasion.    It  included: 


George  M.   Pull- 
man 
G.  F.  Brown 
T.  H.  Wickes 
C  H.  Chappell 
J.  J.  Janes 
Orson  Smith 
O.  W.  Potter 
W.  T.  Baker 
H.  R.  Hobart 
A.  N.  Eddy 
Jesse  Spalding 
Frederick 
Broughton 


W.  P.  Nixon 
John  M.  Clark 
A.  C.  Bartlett 
J.  W.  Hambleton 
E.  L.  Brewster 
Henry  S.  Boutell 
D.  B.  Fiske 
Willard  A.  Smith 
Stephen   F.   Gale 
Edson  Keith 
O.  S.  A.  Sprague 
A.  B.  Pullman 
J.  T.  Lester 
H.J.MacFarland 

[no] 


S.  W.  Doane 
Murray  Nelson 
A.  H.  Burley 
C.  K.  Offield 
E.  T.  Jeffery 
Prof.  Swing 
W.  K.  Sullivan 
W.  K.  Ackerman 
A.  C.  Thomas 
J.  McGregor 

Adams 
J.  F.  Studebaker 
P.  E.  Studebaker 
T.  B.  Blackstone 


INVENTIONS  AND  IMPROVEMENTS 

Rev.    S.    J.    Mc-    A.  A.  Sprague  D.  S.  Wegg 

Pherson  P.  L.  Yoe  F.  N.  Finney 

C.  S.  Tuckerman     A.  F.  Seeberger 

During  the  days  in  which  the  train  was  exhibited 
at  Van  Buren  street,  Chicago,  it  was  visited  by  ap- 
proximately 20,000  people.    The  article  continues : 

This  fact  shows  that  the  public  has  a  deep  interest  in 
improvements  in  traveling  conveniences.  We  do  not 
remember  that  any  previous  invention  or  improvement 
has  ever  excited  such  general  public  interest.  Mr.  Pull- 
man has  again  struck  the  popular  chord. 

The  first  vestibule  train  to  the  land  of  the  Aztecs, 
the  "Montezuma  Special,"  was  naturally  of  Pull- 
man construction,  and  began  regular  tri-monthly 
trips  from  New  Orleans  to  the  City  of  Mexico  and 
return,  via  the  Southern  Pacific,  Mexican  Interna- 
tional, and  Mexican  Central  Railway,  on  February 
7,  1889.  Four  magnificent  cars,  electrically  lighted, 
comprised  the  train.  The  initial  trip  of  1,835  miles 
was  made  in  about  seventy-one  hours,  and  on  its 
arrival  in  the  City  of  Mexico  a  banquet  was  given 
to  President  Diaz  and  his  cabinet  to  signalize  the 
advent  of  the  first  international  vestibule  train  into 
the  capital  of  Mexico. 

[in] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

The  lighting  of  railway  cars  shows  an  interesting 
evolution.  Undoubtedly  candles  were  used  at  the 
earliest  period,  but  the  use  of  oil  dates  back  beyond 
the  birthday  of  the  Pullman  car.  Oil  lamps,  at  best, 
were  a  poor  substitute  for  the  light  of  day.  Casting 
a  dim,  yellow  light,  flickering  in  every  draught, 
smelling  and  smoking  when  not  properly  cared  for, 
and  vitiating  the  car  atmosphere,  it  was  small  wonder 
that  the  public  showed  prompt  appreciation  of  the 
first  substitute  that  was  provided. 

The  brilliant  Pintsch  light,  which  for  a  number 
of  years  had  had  wide  use  in  Europe,  was  first  intro- 
duced into  America  by  the  Pullman  Company  on  the 
crack  Erie  train  in  the  through  New  York-Chicago 
service  in  1883.  The  gas  used  for  these  lights  was 
of  high  candle  power  and  was  manufactured  from 
petroleum.  As  a  car  illuminant  it  has  held  its  own 
almost  to  the  present  day. 

It  is  impossible  to  exaggerate  the  part  played  by 
the  Pullman  Company  in  the  development  of  electric 
lighting  of  cars.  Without  its  inspired  initiative  and 
its  vast  resources  for  practical  and  costly  experiment 
it  is  fair  to  believe  that  electricity  would  not  have 
been  successfully  utilized  for  this  purpose  for  many 

[112] 


INVENTIONS  AND  IMPROVEMENTS 

years.    The  Railroad  Gazette  of  January  25,  1889, 
expresses  this  thought : 

Without  extended  experiments  we  can  scarcely  hope 
to  develop  a  good  system  of  electric  lighting  for  railroad 
service.  Such  experiments  are  rather  expensive,  and  it  is 
only  by  the  co-operation  of  liberal-minded  managers  that 
anything  like  a  perfect  system  can  be  expected  in  a  rea- 
sonable tim.e.  The  Pullman  Company  has  great  confi- 
dence in  the  success  of  electric  lighting,  and  therefore,  in 
spite  of  the  annoyance  and  expense  of  the  present  system, 
expresses  a  determination  to  use  it,  expecting  that  some- 
thing better  will  result  in  the  near  future  from^  the 
extended  experience  now  being  obtained. 

Although  the  incandescent  electric  lamp  was  intro- 
duced by  Edison  in  1879,  following  by  two  years 
the  introduction  by  Brush  of  the  arc  lamp,  it  was 
on  an  English  railway  in  an  American  Pullman  car 
supplied  with  electricity  by  French  accumulator  cells 
that  the  electric  light  on  October  14,  1881,  barely 
fifty  years  from  the  first  suggestion  of  the  iron  horse 
by  Stephenson,  cast  its  brilliant  light  for  the  first 
time  in  a  railway  carriage. 

The  trial  was  made  in  a  Pullman  car,  forming 
part  of  a  special  train  on  the  Brighton  Railway.  A 
number  of  officials  of  the  road,  a  representative  of 
the  Pullman  Company,  and  Mr.  F.  A.  Pincaffs  and 

[ii3l 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

Mr.  Lachlan  of  the  Faure  Accumulator  Company 
composed  the  party,  and  at  3:25  the  train  pulled 
out  of  the  Victoria  Station  for  Brighton. 

Only  a  few  months  before,  Mr.  Faure  had  sent  to 
Sir  William  Thomson  his  little  box  of  lead  plates 
coated  with  red  oxide  and  fully  charged  with  elec- 
tricity. The  great  physicist  saw  at  once  its  possi- 
bilities, and  in  a  relatively  short  time  inventors  were 
developing  countless  applications  of  the  new  wonder. 
Its  application  to  car  lighting  was  an  important  test. 

The  Pullman  car  on  which  this  first  experiment 
was  made,  carried  beneath  it  on  a  shelf  some  thirty- 
two  small  metal  boxes  or  cells,  each  containing  lead 
plates  coated  with  oxide.  Stored  in  these  cells  was 
the  power  to  light  the  car.  It  was  nothing  more  than 
the  most  elementary  storage  battery,  a  far  cry  from 
the  compact  batteries  of  today  and  the  massive  gen- 
erator swung  beneath  the  floor  of  the  modern  car. 

All  the  previous  night  a  steam  engine  had  created 
power  to  charge  the  cells.  In  the  roof  of  the  car 
were  twelve  small  Edison  incandescent  lights  with 
bamboo  filaments.  The  light  was  uneven;  it  was 
"garish,"  but  at  the  turn  of  a  switch  its  rays  filled 
the  car.     With  pardonable  enthusiasm  the  London 

[114] 


03 

a, 

QJ 

Q 

u 


a, 


INVENTIONS  AND  IMPROVEMENTS 

^imes  stated  that  ''the  car  on  the  return  journey  in 
the  evening  was  kept  lighted  the  whole  of  the  dis- 
tance from  Brighton  to  Victoria." 

It  is  interesting  to  read  in  the  London  Daily  'tele- 
graph of  October  15,  1885,  the  following  mention 
of  this  important  event: 

Yesterday's  trial  was  understood  to  have  special  refer- 
ence, however,  to  a  new  train,  wholly  composed  of  Pull- 
man cars,  which  it  is  proposed  shortly  to  put  on  the 
service  between  Victoria  and  Brighton,  and  should  the 
experiment  be  deemed  fully  satisfactory  it  is  probable 
that  the  new  train  will  from  the  first  be  fitted  with  the 
electric  light.  So  far  as  the  travelers  were  concerned  the 
result  was  eminently  successful.  It  would  scarcely  be 
possible  to  conceive  a  steadier,  more  equable,  or  more 
agreeable  light.  On  the  down  journey  the  first  trial  was 
made  in  the  Merstham  tunnel,  and  then  in  the  Balcombe 
and  Clayton  tunnels.  All  that  was  needed  was  to  move 
the  little  switch,  and  instantaneously  the  delicate  carbon 
thread  enclosed  in  the  lamps  was  aglow  with  pure  white 
light.  The  return  journey  was  made  in  the  night,  and 
the  electric  lamps  were  alight  during  the  whole  distance. 
There  had  been  some  question  whether  the  supply  would 
prove  sufficient,  as  owing  to  stoppages  the  special  had 
taken  a  somewhat  longer  time  than  had  been  allowed  for ; 
the  event,  however,  showed  that  the  storage  had  been 
ample.  It  would  be  possible  to  generate  electricity  by  the 
energy  of  the  moving  train  itself,  and  this  has  indeed 
been  suggested  to  be  done.    By  this  means  enough  energy 

[115] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

could  be  supplied  to  the  incandescent  lamps,  but  in  any 
case  the  accumulator  would  be  necessary  to  act  as  a  reser- 
voir when  the  train  was  not  in  motion.  It  possesses,  how- 
ever, another  advantage  equally  important.  Experience 
shows  that  a  current  of  absolutely  uniform  strength  sup- 
plying an  even  and  constant  light  can  only  be  derived 
from  stored  electricity.  The  oxide  of  lead  which  covers 
the  plates  not  only  prevents  leakage,  but  enables  the 
supply  to  be  withdrawn  with  perfect  regularity,  and  ren- 
ders sub-division  easy.  Yesterday  the  smoke  room  and 
lavatory  of  the  car  were  lighted,  and  occasionally  the 
lights  were  turned  off  without  in  any  way  interfering  with 
the  other  lamps  in  the  same  circuit.  Before  the  train 
started  on  the  return  journey  the  brightly  illuminated 
carriage  was  an  object  of  interest  to  many  members  of 
the  Iron  and  Steel  Institute  who  visited  Brighton  and 
Newhaven  yesterday.  With  regard  to  expense,  it  is 
claimed  for  the  accumulator  and  the  incandescent  lamps 
that  the  expenditure  would  be  decidedly  less  than  on 
oil,  while,  as  to  the  comparative  value  of  the  two  there 
is  no  room  for  difference  of  opinion.  It  was  the  general 
feeling  of  aU  who  took  part  in  the  excursion  that  the 
question  of  the  electric  lighting  of  trains  had  been  solved, 
and  that  to  the  Brighton  Company,  whatever  may  be  the 
immediate  results  of  the  experiment,  would  belong  the 
honour  of  taking  the  first  decisive  and  practical  step  in 
the  way  of  reform. 

Four  months  later  a  correspondent  of  a  Sheffield, 
England,  paper,  writing  from  London  to  the  Rail- 
way Review  of  the  recent  trial  of  electric  lights  on 

[ii6] 


INVENTIONS  AND  IMPROVEMENTS 

the  Pullman  train  of  the  London,  Brighton  &  South 
Coast  Railway,  says: 

There  is  no  doubt  whatever  on  the  point  that  this, 
apart  from  the  question  of  cost,  is  a  decided  success. 
It  is  easily  manageable,  and  diffuses  through  the  train  a 
pleasant,  equable  light,  scarcely  less  agreeable  than  day- 
light. It  is  turned  on  and  off  with  instantaneous  effect 
as  the  train  enters  and  leaves  a  tunnel,  and  of  course  is 
kept  burning  the  whole  of  the  time  during  the  night 
journeys.  The  electricity  is  stored  in  a  number  of  lead 
plates,  which  are  kept  in  water  in  iron  boxes  in  the 
guard's  van.  There  are  two  lots,  one  at  either  end  of  the 
train,  and  two  mechanics  in  charge  of  them.  This  dis- 
covery of  the  ability  to  store  electricity  for  application 
to  lighting  purposes  seems  to  carry  the  discovery  farther 
than  anything  since  it  was  first  introduced.  It  gets  over 
many  difficulties  which  seemed  insuperable  —  especially 
the  important  one  of  the  great  waste  of  power  which  is 
illustrated  every  night  at  the  Savoy  Theatre  — and  would 
be  applicable  to  the  introduction  of  electricity  for  house- 
hold use. 

At  the  Savoy,  when  the  exigencies  of  the  play  require 
that  the  lights  should  be  turned  down  in  the  auditorium, 
there  is  no  cessation  of  the  enormous  power  required  to 
produce  the  full  effect.  What  happens  is  that  by  a 
mechanical  contrivance,  the  electricity  is  carried  off  from 
the  light  and  goes  to  waste.  With  this  system  of  storing, 
electricity  can  be  used  just  like  gas,  as  much  or  as  little 
as  people  chance  to  want.  Another  great  advantage  is  the 
freedom  from  jumping,  inseparable  from  the  action  of 

[117] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

the  driving  power  of  the  steam  engine,  or  of  the  motion 
power  of  water.  The  lights  of  the  Brighton  train  burn 
just  as  steadily  as  gas,  an  effect  not  in  any  way  obtained 
where  the  light  is  maintained  directly  by  the  driving 
power  of  steam. 

But  after  all,  the  question  of  gas  vs.  electricity  will 
resolve  itself  into  one  of  cost,  and  it  is  here  where  gas 
will  inevitably  hold  its  own.  The  fundamental  principle 
of  the  electric  light  is  that  for  a  given  exertion  of  power 
you  obtain  a  given  proportion  of  light,  neither  more  nor 
less.  For  every  hour  it  is  burning  there  will  be  required 
a  certain  exactly-ascertained  proportion  of  revolutions  of 
the  steam  engine,  and  therefore,  if  the  whole  town  is 
lighted  it  can  be  done  only  at  a  strictly  proportionate 
expense  to  the  lighting  of  a  single  house.  As  to  what  that 
expense  will  be,  as  compared  with  gas,  the  Brighton  train, 
would,  if  we  had  an  idea  of  the  actual  figures,  afford  a 
precise  means  of  information.  I  met  on  the  train  a  well- 
known  gas  engineer,  attracted,  like  m.yself,  by  the  novelty 
of  the  experiment.  What  the  electric  light  cost  he  was 
not  able  to  say,  but  when  we  take  into  account  the  capital 
sunk  in  plant,  involving  a  steam  engine  with  the  necessary 
buildings,  consumption  of  coal  and  necessary  employment 
of  skilled  labor,  it  must  be  something  considerable. 
Against  this  is  the  bare  fact  that  the  Brighton  train  could 
be  lighted  with  gas  for  the  double  journey  at  the  cost  of 
lod.  It  is  a  physical  impossibility  that  electricity  should 
ever  come  anywhere  near  this,  and  that  probably  explains 
the  singular  phenomenon  that  at  the  time  when  electricity 
is  making  conspicuous  advances  In  public  favor,  the  value 
of  gas  shares  is  not  only  steadily  maintained,  but  is  actu- 
ally rising  in  the  market. 


The  steel  parts  used  for  interior  car  finish  are  all  standardized, 
and  are  formed  by  powerful  presses 


Another  large  press  at  work  on  the  forming  of  steel  shapes  for 
the  interior  framing  of  the  cars 


INVENTIONS  AND  IMPROVEMENTS 

The  present  method  of  heating  an  entire  train  with 
steam  from  the  locomotive  was  satisfactorily  tested 
out  in  the  winter  of  1887,  and  was  generally  adopted 
the  following  year.  By  this  improved  system  the 
individual  heaters  in  each  car  were  abolished,  and 
a  source  of  much  discomfort  and  complaint  was 
removed.  The  Pullman  cars  were  immediately 
altered  to  benefit  by  the  new  system. 


[119] 


vin 

How  the  Cars  are  Made 


CHAPTER  VIII 

HOW  THE  CARS  ARE  MADE 

IN  former  chapters  has  been  told  the  story  of  the 
birth  of  the  PuUman  car  and  its  development 
through  the  various  phases  of  its  evolution.  Gen- 
erally speaking,  this  evolution  for  the  first  forty 
years  was  characterized  chiefly  by  the  addition,  at 
one  time  or  another,  of  certain  inventions  and  im- 
provements, such  as  the  electric  light  and  the  ves- 
tibule, and  by  a  changing  style  of  interior  decoration 
conforming  to  contemporary  fashions.  But  at  no 
time  is  recorded  a  change  in  the  basic  idea  of  car 
construction  that  can  in  any  measure  compare  with 
the  revolutionizing  change  which  was  recorded  in 
1908  by  the  construction  of  the  first  "all-steel" 
Pullman  car. 

For  a  number  of  years  steel  sills  and  under  frames 
had  furnished  a  staunch  foundation  for  all  cars  man- 
ufactured by  the  Pullman  Company  for  its  opera- 
tion. Further  strengthened  by  steel  vestibules,  it  is 
to  be  doubted  if  the  all-steel  car  offered  any  very 

[  123  ] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

material  increase  in  the  safety  already  afforded  to 
the  passengers.  But  the  change  which  the  steel  car 
brought  in  the  process  of  manufacture  was  radical  in 
the  extreme.  The  first  Pullman  cars,  and  in  fact 
every  car  up  to  and  through  the  nineties,  was  of  all^ 
wood  construction.  Wood-making  machinery  filled 
the  great  shops  at  Pullman;  carpenters  and  cabinet- 
makers numbered  a  big  percentage  of  the  pay  roll. 
It  was  a  wood-working  industry.  At  one  fell  stroke 
the  old  order  changed  to  the  new.  The  songs  of  the 
band-saw  and  the  planer  were  stilled  and  in  their 
stead  rose  the  metallic  clamor  of  steam  hammer  and 
turret  lathe,  and  the  endless  staccato  reverberation 
of  an  army  of  riveters,  Ponderous  machines  to  bend, 
twist,  or  cut  a  bar  or  sheet  of  steel  filled  the  vast 
workrooms.  An  army  of  steel  workers.  Titans  of 
the  past  reborn  to  fulfill  a  modern  destiny,  fanned 
the  flames  in  their  furnaces  and  released  the  leash 
of  sand  blast,  air  hose,  and  gas  flame. 

But  fascinating  as  unquestionably  was  the  work 
of  the  patient  artisans  who  inlaid  the  beflowered 
Eastlake  Pullman  or  the  Moorish  cars  of  another 
day,  there  is  equal  romance  in  the  product  of  the 
modern  worker  who  builds  these  rolling  hostelries 

[124] 


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HOW  THE  CARS  ARE  MADE 

of  steel.  Under  the  high  glass  roof  the  tumult  of 
ponderous  machines  fills  the  air  with  pandemonium. 
At  one  side  of  one  of  the  main  aisles  a  half  dozen 
great  steel  girders,  like  keels  for  giant  ships,  lie  on 
the  floor.  These  are  the  mighty  box  girders,  eighty- 
one  feet  in  length  and  weighing  over  nine  tons  each, 
which  will  form  the  backbone  of  future  Pullmans. 
To  each  of  these  girders,  or  sills,  are  riveted  plates, 
angles,  and  steel  castings  which  extend  the  full 
length  of  the  car  and  platforms,  as  well  as  floor 
beams,  cross  bearers,  bolsters,  and  end  sills  of  pressed 
steel.  On  this  foundation  the  side  sills  are  riveted, 
steel  beams  that  run  the  entire  length  of  the  car. 

When  this  gray  mass  of  steel  is  Anally  riveted 
together  with  its  coverplates,  tieplates,  and  floor- 
plates,  the  underframe  of  the  car  is  completed  — an 
almost  indestructible  foundation  which  alone  weighs 
27,365  pounds.  On  this  underframe  the  superstruc- 
ture or  frame  is  erected  to  form  the  body  of  the 
car.  This  frame  is  composed  of  pressed  steel  posts 
and  plates  forming  for  each  side  a  complete  girder 
which  would  by  itself  alone  carry  the  entire  weight 
of  the  loaded  car. 

The  roof  deck  is  separately  assembled,  and  as  soon 
[125] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

as  the  superstructure  of  the  car  is  ready  it  is  swung 
up  by  a  crane  and  dropped  into  place.  Like  the  rest 
of  the  car,  the  roof  is  of  steel,  braced  and  riveted 
to  defy  the  greatest  possible  strains.  The  ends  and 
vestibules  are  now  built  on,  piece  by  piece,  until  the 
skeleton  of  the  car  is  complete.  The  vestibules  are 
particularly  imposing,  for  on  each  side,  framing  the 
side  doors  through  which  the  passengers  enter 
the  car,  are  giant  beams  of  steel  so  built  into  the 
construction  of  the  frame  that  only  under  most 
extraordinary  circumstances  could  the  force  of  a  col- 
lision crush  the  vestibule  or  the  car  behind  it. 

The  trucks  which  carry  this  tremendous  burden 
of  steel  are  marvels  of  strength  and  efficiency.  Each 
of  the  two  trucks  has  six  steel  wheels  weighing  nine 
hundred  pounds  apiece.  Added  to  this  is  the  weight 
of  the  three  six  hundred  pound  axles,  the  two  steel 
castings  which  form  the  framework  for  the  trucks 
together  with  the  bolsters,  springs,  equalizers,  and 
brake  equipment  —  a  total  weight  of  42,000  pounds 
for  the  trucks  alone,  contributed  to  the  total  weight 
of  the  car. 

The  car  is  now  subjected  to  a  thorough  sand- 
blasting, a  process  that  removes  every  particle  of 

[126] 


Riveting  the  underframe 


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The  steel  end  posts  in  position,  providing  strongest  possible 
protection  in  case  of  collision 


HOW  THE  CARS  ARE  MADE 

scale,  grease,  or  dirt  and  leaves  the  steel  in  perfect 
condition  to  receive  the  first  coat  of  paint  and  the 
insulation.  To  the  passenger,  the  presence  of  the 
steel  construction  is  apparent,  but  the  insulation, 
which  forms  a  vital  factor  in  the  car's  construction, 
can  be  seen  only  during  the  process  of  building. 
Composed  of  a  combination  of  cement,  hair,  and  as- 
bestos, this  insulating  material  is  packed  into  every 
cubic  inch  of  space  between  the  inner  and  outer  shells 
of  the  roof  and  sides,  forming  a  perfect  non-con- 
ductor to  protect  the  passengers  against  the  biting 
cold  of  winter  or  the  heat  of  summer  sunshine.  A 
similar  cement  preparation  is  next  laid  on  the  floor, 
combining  the  quality  of  a  non-conductor  of  heat 
and  cold  with  sanitary  qualities  invaluable  as  an  aid 
in  maintaining  the  cars  in  a  strictly  sanitary  condi- 
tion. 

At  this  point  in  the  construction  the  car  is  turned 
over  to  the  steamfitters,  plumbers,  and  electricians, 
who  perform  their  work  with  the  skill  and  dispatch 
bred  of  a  long  familiarity  with  the  particular  require- 
ments of  car  construction.  To  see  the  Pullman  car 
at  this  stage  is  to  see  a  network  of  steam-pipes  and 
electric  conduit  lacing  in  and  out  between  the  gaunt 

[127] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

steel  frame  of  t±ie  car,  and  everywhere  the  white 
plaster-like  insulation  packed  into  every  cavity.  As 
soon  as  these  gangs  of  workmen  have  finished,  other 
workers  fit  into  place  the  interior  panel  plates,  parti- 
tions, lockers,  and  seat  frames,  and  the  car  instantly 
assumes  a  new  and  almost  completed  aspect.  Mean- 
while the  painters  have  completed  their  work  on  the 
exterior  of  the  car  and  begin  the  finer  finish  of  the 
interior.  Here  coat  upon  coat  is  laid,  and  after  each 
coat  laborious  rubbing  to  give  the  required  finish. 
The  graining,  by  which  various  woods  are  so  faith- 
fully imitated,  is  then  applied,  and  last  the  var- 
nishing. 

The  car  is  now  completed  with  the  exception  of 
the  fittings.  A  gang  of  men  hang  curtains  in  the 
doors  and  windows;  the  upholsterers  contribute  the 
carpets,  cushions,  mattresses,  and  blankets;  the  vari- 
ous little  fixtures  are  added,  and  the  car  is  finished. 
Steel!  Veritably!  One  man  can  trundle  in  a  single 
wheelbarrow  all  the  wood  that  has  gone  into  its 
construction. 

Rich  Brewster  green,  the  new  paint  gleaming  in 
the  sunlight,  a  long  line  of  these  seventy-ton  steel 
mile-a-minute  hostelries  are  waiting  for  the  hour 

[128] 


Type  of  wood-frame  truck  used  on  early  cars ;  four  wheels  only, 
with  a  big  rubber  block  over  each  in  place  of  springs 


Modern   cast-steel   truck;    six   wheels   with   powerful    springs   to 
take  up  the  jars  and  jolts  of  the  road 


HOW  THE  CARS  ARE  MADE 

when  the  white-jacketed  porters  will  open  their  doors 
in  welcome  to  their  first  passengers.  Above  the  win- 
dows the  word  "Pullman"  in  dull  gold  will  carrry 
from  coast  to  coast  the  name  of  their  founder. 
Below  the  windows  is  the  name  of  the  car,  selected 
usually  with  local  significance  in  consideration  of 
the  lines  over  which  that  particular  car  will  operate. 

In  a  corner  of  the  great  yards  at  a  track  end 
stands  a  little  yellow  car,  smaller  than  many  of  our 
interurban  trolley  cars,  the  paint  peeling  from  the 
boards  that  have  seen  the  changing  seasons  of  half 
a  century.  It  is  old  number  "9,"  not  the  earliest, 
but  one  of  the  early  Pullmans.  Perhaps  there  are 
nights,  when  the  roar  of  the  machines  is  stilled,  that 
the  ghosts  of  a  long-past  day  once  again  walk  up 
and  down  the  narrow  aisles,  strangers  to  the  age  of 
steel. 


[129T 


IX 
The  Operation  of  the  Pullman  Car 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  OPERATION  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

ON  the  magic  carpet  of  Bagdad  the  fortunate 
travelers  of  a  fabulous  age  were  transported 
to  their  destination,  over  valley,  river,  and  moun- 
tain with  a  certainty  and  dispatch  that  has  been 
unparalleled  in  the  annals  of  passenger  transporta- 
tion. But  the  magic  carpet,  despite  the  generous 
measure  of  its  service,  seems  to  have  been  lost  to 
following  generations,  and  only  its  reputation, 
doubtless  somewhat  amplified  by  the  telling,  remains 
to  set  a  high  standard  to  succeeding  transportation 
enterprises. 

Service  is  a  much-used  and  a  much- abused  word. 
It  has  manifold  significance.  It  may  be  a  personal 
thing  and  carry  the  conscientious  effort  of  indi- 
viduals eager  to  do  for  others  ofBces  which  they 
desire  performed;  it  may  be  purely  mechanical  and 
consist  only  in  the  provision  of  the  "ways  and 
means"  to  secure  a  desired  end.  It  may  be  a  com- 
bination of  both ;  a  system  or  organization  instituted 

[  ^33  ] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

for  the  accomplishment  of  a  duty  or  work  bene- 
ficial to  a  community.  A  great  railroad  affords  such 
a  service.  Greater  in  its  scope  than  any  railroad, 
the  Pullman  Company  provides  a  more  vast,  intri- 
cate, and  complete  service  to  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  a  service  unequaled  in  all  the  world. 
A  study  of  the  scope  and  ramifications  of  the 
Pullman  operations  deserves  more  than  passing  com- 
ment; it  is  of  interest  to  everyone,  for  everyone  is 
to  some  degree  a  traveler;  an  actual  or  a  potential 
Pullman  patron.  In  preceding  chapters  has  been 
traced  the  story  of  passenger  transportation  in 
America;  how  the  first  railroads  offered  communica- 
tion only  between  a  few  closely  related  cities,  and 
how  later  the  growth  of  the  railroads  brought  into 
direct  communication  practically  every  village  and 
metropolis  throughout  the  land.  Then  came  the 
time  when  the  inadequacy  of  such  complete  but  dis- 
connected service  struck  the  imagination  of  a  man 
who  saw  the  endless  miles  of  track  of  countless  rail- 
roads bound  together  by  a  supplemental  system  to 
which  all  railroads  contributed  and  from  which  they 
profited,  and  by  which,  most  of  all,  the  public  would 
enjoy  a  service  of  a  scope  which  could  otherwise  only 

[134]' 


OPERATING  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

be  attained  by  an  actual  combination  of  these  rail- 
roads into  a  single  company.  But  the  vision  of  the 
founder  of  the  Pullman  Company  did  not  stop  at 
the  idea  of  a  unified  system.  He  had  not  only  seen 
the  discomfort  and  inconvenience  of  countless 
changes  from  one  train  to  another  at  railroad  junc- 
tions and  the  midnight  gatherings  on  the  station 
platform;  he  had  seen  in  tired  eyes  the  fatigue  of 
sleeplessness;  he  had  seen  in  the  preponderance  of 
male  passengers  the  lack  of  a  protection  sufficient  to 
permit  the  free  travel  of  unescorted  women;  he  had 
realized,  and  his  realization  ranks  high  with  the 
thoughts  of  the  world's  innovators,  that  travel  was 
a  hardship  and  that  it  could  be  made  a  pleasure. 

With  the  realization  constantly  before  him  that 
the  most  perfect  service  could  be  given  only  by  the 
most  radically  improved  equipment  and  the  widest 
extension  of  this  company's  activities,  Mr.  Pullman 
identified  the  early  years  of  organization  with  a 
development  of  the  passenger  car  to  a  degree  of  com- 
fort, convenience,  safety,  and  luxury  that  passed 
popular  comprehension.  Nothing  was  too  good  for 
the  Pullman  car;  too  much  money  could  not  be 
invested  in  it.     Hand  in  hand  with  this  develop- 

[135] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

ment  of  the  mechanical  side  of  service  he  developed 
its  extension  throughout  the  country,  by  means  of 
which  it  might  be  put  into  the  hands  of  the  greatest 
number  of  people  for  their  greater  convenience. 
Never  has  history  more  completely  justified  a  busi- 
ness that  from  its  character  must  be  to  a  certain 
extent  a  monopoly.  Never  has  competition  more 
promptly  yielded  to  unification. 

It  is  natural  to  think  of  the  Pullman  Company 
as  housed  in  some  miraculous  manner  in  the  cars 
which  it  operates,  as  a  company  which  expends  its 
restless  existence  in  untiring  travel  from  state  to 
state.  But,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  vast  organiza- 
tion which  makes  possible  the  movement  of  the 
seventy-five  hundred  cars  which  comprise  the  present 
equipment  holds  an  interest  secondary  only  to  the 
actual  operation  of  the  cars  themselves. 

There  was  a  day  when  the  run  from  Albany  to 
Schenectady  was  the  longest  continuous  railroad 
ride  that  a  traveler  might  take.  Today  it  is  possible 
to  travel  in  a  Pullman  car  without  change  from 
Washington,  D.  C,  to  San  Francisco,  a  distance  of 
3,625  miles,  requiring  one  hundred  and  eighteen 
hours,  or  approximately  five  days. 


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OPERATING  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

But  distance  is  not  alone  characteristic  of  Pull- 
man service;  equal  attention  is  given  to  shorter 
"hauls/'  From  Greensboro  to  Raleigh,  North 
Carolina,  for  instance,  a  distance  of  only  eighty-one 
miles,  Pullman  sleeping  cars  are  regularly  operated. 
Here,  as  in  many  other  instances,  arrangements  exist 
whereby  the  passengers  may  retire  early  in  the  even- 
ing while  the  car  is  at  rest  on  a  siding  in  the  station, 
and  arise  at  a  reasonable  hour  in  the  morning.  By 
such  service  hotel  accommodations  are  practically 
afforded  and  it  becomes  possible  for  the  travelers  to 
have  a  whole  day  for  pleasure  or  business  at  one 
place,  spend  a  night  in  which  a  hundred  or  five 
hundred  miles  are  traversed,  and  arrive  without 
fatigue  at  another  place  the  following  morning. 

The  hotel  desk  corresponds  to  the  ticket  office  of 
the  Pullman  Company.  Imagine  a  hotel  with 
260,000  beds  and  2,950  office  desks,  and  a  total 
registration  of  26,000,000  people  each  year.  This 
is  what  the  Pullman  Company  does,  however,  and 
incidentally  it  does  it  often  at  a  mile  a  minute  and 
in  every  state  in  the  Union.  The  2,950  offices 
where  Pullman  berths,  seats,  drawing  rooms  or  com- 
partments   may    be    purchased    include    Quebec, 

1^37] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

Winnipeg,  Manitoba,  and  Vancouver  on  the  north; 
San  Diego,  El  Paso,  New  Orleans,  Key  West,  and 
Havana  on  the  south ;  San  Francisco  on  the  west, 
and  the  seaboard  towns  of  Maine  on  the  east. 
Under  normal  conditions  the  southern  limit  is  still 
further  extended  to  fifty-six  additional  offices  in  the 
Republic  of  Mexico,  as  far  south  as  Salina  Cruz  on 
the  Gulf  of  Tehuan tepee,  and  approximately  two 
hundred  miles  from  the  boundary  between  Mexico 
and  Guatemala,  Central  America. 

The  longest  distance  which  it  is  possible  to  travel 
with  a  single  Pullman  ticket  is  from  Portland, 
Maine,  to  San  Francisco,  by  the  way  of  Washing- 
ton, D.  C,  New  Orleans  and  Los  Angeles.  This 
cannot  be  done,  however,  in  one  sleeper,  and  changes 
must  be  made  at  New  York  and  Washington. 
But  a  brief  consideration  of  the  perfect  organ- 
ization necessary  to  provide  such  continuous  pas- 
sage with  berths  reserved  at  each  point  of  change 
by  the  mere  purchase  of  a  ticket  at  the  starting  point, 
grants  to  the  Pullman  Company  a  measure  of  credit 
due.  In  actual  mileage  the  distance  covered  by  this 
trip  is  4,199. 

As  a  rule  the  berths  in  sleeping  cars  and  seats  in 
[138] 


ROBERT  T.  LINCOLN 
President  of  the  Pullman  Company  from  i^ 


to  1911 


OPERATING  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

parlor  cars  are  on  sale  at  the  terminals  of  the  dif 
ferent  lines,  but  to  provide  facilities  at  intermediate 
points  where  the  demand  is  sufficient  to  justify  it,  a 
limited  number  of  sections  are  assigned  for  sale  at 
such  stations  and  tickets  may  be  purchased  from 
them  on  application.  At  stations  of  less  importance 
and  where  the  demand  is  not  sufficient  to  assign  any 
definite  space,  an  arrangement  exists  whereby  the 
vacant  accommodations  are  telegraphed  by  ticket 
agents  or  conductors  from  point  to  point  in  order  to 
accommodate  passengers  taking  the  trains  at  such 
stations.  It  is  also  possible  and  a  very  common 
practice  to  purchase  a  single  sleeping  car  ticket 
between  stations  a  great  distance  apart- — for 
instance,  between  Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia, 
and  Washington,  to  Los  Angeles,  San  Francisco, 
Portland,  and  Seattle,  via  any  of  the  ordinary 
routes  of  travel,  by  sufficient  notice  to  the  ticket 
agent  to  enable  his  reserving  the  accommodations, 
and  it  is  also  possible  to  purchase  under  similar  con- 
ditions a  sleeping  car  ticket  in  Havana,  Cuba,  for 
a  berth,  section,  or  drawing  room  from  Key  West, 
Florida,  to  Seattle,  Washington,  a  distance  of  3,925 
miles,  taking  one  hundred  and  thirty- three  hours; 

[  139  ] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

not,  however,  without  change,  but  in  connecting 
cars,  giving  continuous  sleeping  car  service  over 
various  routes. 

During  the  year  1916,  16,398,450  tickets  of 
various  forms  were  printed  in  Chicago  and  dis- 
tributed to  the  various  ticket  offices,  and  in  addition, 
8,150,000  cash-fare  tickets  or  checks  were  issued  by- 
conductors  to  travelers  purchasing  on  the  train. 

In  addition  to  offices  where  tickets  may  be  pur- 
chased, arrangements  exist  in  many  thousands  of 
smaller  points  whereby  the  public  may  secure  sleep- 
ing-car  accommodations  by  application  to  the  station 
agent  or  other  representative  of  the  railroad  com- 
pany, who  will  arrange  by  telephone,  telegraph,  or 
letter  the  desired  space  to  be  called  for,  with  a 
reasonable  time  at  a  designated  point. 

In  order  to  extend  to  the  public  every  courtesy 
consistent  with  lawful  requirements  and  good  busi- 
ness principles,  the  Pullman  Company  endeavors  to 
provide  prompt  and  careful  attention  to  all  requests 
for  refund  of  fares  where  service  paid  for  is  not 
furnished,  whether  through  the  acts  of  its  agents  or 
employees  or  the  passenger,  or  due  to  interruption 
of  traffic. 

[140] 


OPERATING  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

Applications  of  this  nature  are  usually  made  to 
the  company's  general  offices  in  Chicago,  but  when 
this  is  not  convenient,  a  report  made  to  the  com- 
pany's representative  in  any  of  the  important  cities 
throughout  the  country  is  forwarded  to  the  central 
offices  and  receives  the  most  careful  consideration. 

It  would  seem  of  interest  in  this  connection  to 
state  that  during  the  year  1916,  53,743  applications, 
amounting  to  $152,446.00,  were  received  for  refund 
of  fares,  an  average  of  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
nine  for  each  working  day.  Of  the  total  number 
received  48,025  were  considered  favorably  and 
paid,  indicating  the  liberal  policy  of  the  company 
in  such  matters.  Regardless  of  the  amount  involved, 
great  or  small,  it  is  necessary  that  each  case  be  con- 
sidered on  its  individual  merits,  and  the  result 
determined  with  due  regard  to  fairness  to  the  pas- 
senger and  the  company,  and  not  conflicting  with 
legal  necessities. 

Probably  seventy-five  per  cent  of  these  requests 
for  refunds  are  occasioned  by  passengers  changing 
their  plans  or  missing  their  train.  Most  frequent  is 
the  reason  given  that  the  wife  has  packed  the  tickets 
in  the  trunk,  that  the  cab  or  taxi  broke  down,  or 

[  141  ] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

that  the  last  act  of  the  theater  caused  unrealized 
delay.  Often  the  tickets  are  lost,  and  not  infre- 
quently they  are  turned  in  by  others  for  refund. 

But  one  of  the  most  convenient  features  of  the 
Pullman  service  is  the  ease  with  which  the  traveler 
may  reserve  in  advance  accommodations  on  the 
train  which  he  intends  to  take.  In  the  ordinary 
railway  coach  it  is  a  rule  of  "first  come,  first  served" 
and  the  late  arrival  is  often  obliged  to  take  a  seat 
with  a  stranger.  By  the  Pullman  system,  however, 
a  call  over  the  telephone  or  a  stop  at  the  local  ticket 
office  is  all  that  is  necessary  to  make  as  definite 
reservation  of  space  as  for  a  theater,  and  the  traveler 
is  wroth  indeed  when  in  rare  instances  a  slip  occurs 
and  he  finds  his  seat  or  berth  has  not  been  held  for 
him  and  has  been  sold  to  another. 

Naturally  so  general  a  convenience  has  led  to 
rank  abuses  from  which  the  passengers  invariably 
suffer.  Chief  among  them  is  the  practice  of  hotel 
clerks  and  porters,  especially  in  large  cities  and  at 
summer  and  winter  resorts,  to  reserve  far  in  advance 
all  the  desirable  Pullman  accommodations  on  popu- 
lar trains  in  the  names  of  supposititious  travelers 
whom  they  claim  to  represent,  and  later  sell  these 

[142] 


::-^li       H 


03    -M 

O     ^ 


OPERATING  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

tickets  to  the  hotel  guests  at  a  premium  or  for  the  tip 
which  invariably  follows. 

By  such  practice  the  distribution  of  space  is  placed 
in  the  hands  of  outside  parties,  out  of  the  control 
of  the  railroads  or  the  Pullman  Company,  and  the 
traveler  is  obliged  to  look  to  these  irresponsible 
individuals  for  his  accommodations.  In  addition, 
the  tip  or  extra  fee  increases  the  cost  of  the  ticket, 
errors  in  "  duplicate  sales  "  are  made  more  frequent, 
and  a  critical  and  unfriendly  feeling  is  created  in 
the  mind  of  the  passenger  who  has  been  unable  to 
secure  a  "lower"  on  early  application  at  the  ticket 
office,  but  was  able  perhaps  to  secure  one  at  train 
time  from  the  unused  tickets  turned  in  by  hotel 
porters.  Naturally  the  feeling  is  created  that  the 
railroad  or  Pullman  agents  are  holding  back  space 
for  a  tip  or  a  favorite,  and  "playing  favorites"  is 
never  popular  with  the  public. 

There  are  several  good  stories  told  of  the  action 
of  the  Pullman  Company  in  cases  where  they  "had 
the  goods"  on  the  offending  hotel  porters.  As  the 
company  is  in  no  sense  required  by  law  to  make 
refund,  but  does  so  only  for  a  convenience  to  its 
patrons,  it  is  possible  to  refuse  to  make  a  refund  if 

[143] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

mm. I  III.  i.«-  J,. I  II  ...II    III    ■    .  ""■  iiii.ii.iw    III     II "  !"'. '  -."   iM  'I  '■■-.-I li.    uuiirmii, 

the  csist  justifies  the  action.  At  a  popular  watering 
place  an  enterprising  hotel  employee  figured  out 
that  on  the  day  following  Easter  a  large  number  of 
guests  would  leave  on  a  certain  popular  train. 
Accordingly,  like  the  theater  "scalper,"  he  purchased 
outright  a  large  block  of  tickets  on  this  train,  in  fact, 
every  lower  on  the  two  Pullman  sleepers.  For- 
tunately the  local  agent  of  the  company  sensed  that 
there  was  something  "rotten  in  the  state  of  Den- 
mark "  and  made  provision  for  two  additional  sleep- 
ers beyond  the  usual  two  which  travel  warranted. 
Being  able  to  secure  satisfactory  accommodations 
direct  from  the  agent  the  passengers  failed  to  patron- 
ize the  hotel  porter's  be-tipped  and  premiumed 
wares,  and  he,  "stuck  with  the  goods,"  tried  a  few 
days  later  to  throw  them  back  for  refund  on  the 
Pullman  Company.  Their  refusal  cost  him  an  even 
hundred  dollars  and  broke  up  a  peculiarly  bad  con- 
dition in  that  particular  locality. 

Many,  indeed,  are  the  difficulties  attending  the 
operation  of  a  system  of  such  magnitude,  and  it  is 
only  by  a  consideration  of  these  difficulties  that  the 
true  wonder  of  a  service  so  nearly  perfect  can  be 
appreciated. 

[144] 


OPERATING  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

"■"■ ' Ill     II    .    »n ■■'■II. ■> Ill  II     IMMi 

The  operation  of  a  system  of  such  magnitude  as 
the  Pullman  Company  necessitates  an  operating 
organization  letter  perfect  in  its  detail.  Such  an 
organization  cannot  be  built  to  order;  it  must  be  a 
development,  the  result  of  years  of  wearying  experi- 
ence and  costly  experiment.  In  the  introduction  to 
the  official  book  of  instruction  provided  to  car 
employees  of  the  company,  occurs,  above  the  signa- 
ture of  the  general  superintendent,  this  sentence: 
"  The  most  important  feature  to  be  observed  at  all 
times  is  to  satisfy  and  please  passengers."  It  is  an 
apparently  simple  commission,  a  natural  expression 
of  desire,  but  a  brief  investigation  of  the  require- 
ments necessary  "to  satisfy  and  please"  twenty-six 
million  passengers,  traveling  rapidly  from  place  to 
place,  from  north  to  south  and  from  coast  to  coast, 
regardless  of  climate  or  locality,  discloses  a  service 
and  machinery  for  the  carrying  out  of  that  service 
complete  beyond  the  realization  of  the  most  dis- 
cerning traveler. 

To  comprehend  more  clearly  the  details  of  this 
nation-wide  service  it  must  be  considered  in  its  two 
aspects-— the  material  equipment  which  the  opera- 
tion of  the  cars  requires,  and  the  personal  service 

[I4S] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  GAR 

afforded  by  the  employees  of  the  company.  To  give 
this  service  7,500  cars  of  the  Pullman  Company  are 
operated  over  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  rail- 
roads, or  a  total  of  223,489  miles  of  track,  reaching 
practically  every  point  in  the  country  from  which 
or  to  which  a  person  might  desire  to  travel.  To 
operate  these  cars  an  arm)^  of  over  ten  thousand  car 
employees  are  required,  while  seven  thousand  more 
are  employed  to  keep  the  cars  in  repair,  and  main- 
tain them  in  a  clean  and  sanitary  condition. 

The  Pullman  Company  maintains,  in  addition  to 
the  great  plant  at  Pullman,  six  repair  shops  situated 
at  various  convenient  points  throughout  the  country 
where  cars  are  repaired  and  maintained  in  good  con- 
dition. In  1916,  a  total  of  5,1 15  cars  were  repaired 
at  these  various  shops  at  a  cost  of  over  five  million 
dollars.  Only  by  such  rigid  maintenance  can  the 
cars  be  kept  in  the  almost  invariably  excellent  con- 
dition in  which  they  are  found  by  the  public. 

Years  ago  the  wearied  traveler  wrapped  his  great 
coat  about  him  for  his  midnight  journey.  Later  a 
few  "sleeping"  cars  of  primitive  construction  pro- 
vided sheets  and  blankets  which  were  stored  in  a 
cupboard  in  the  end  of  the  car.     As  these  were 

[146] 


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OPERATING  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

washed  only  at  irregular  intervals,  it  was  a  lucky 
passenger  who  found  clean  linen  for  his  bed,  and 
if  he  did  not  make  up  the  bed  himself,  it  was  the 
brakeman  who  provided  this  domestic  service.  Nat- 
urally no  one  thought  of  undressing  for  the  night, 
and  when  the  Pullman  car  was  first  introduced  it 
was  necessary  to  print  on  the  back  of  the  tickets  and 
in  the  employees'  rules  book  the  warning  that  pas- 
sengers must  not  retire  with  their  boots  on. 

Today  the  Pullman  Company  to  provide  clean 
linen  nightly  for  each  passenger,  keeps  on  hand 
1,858,178  sheets,  which  are  valued  at  $980,553.00, 
and  1,403,354  pillow  slips  worth  $186,475.00.  In 
the  twelve  months  ending  April  27,  1916,  over  two 
hundred  thousand  sheets,  valued  at  over  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  and  nearly  two  hundred  thousand 
pillow  cases,  valued  at  over  twenty  thousand  dol- 
lars, were  condemned.  And  during  the  same  period 
108,492,359  pieces  of  linen,  including  both  sheets 
and  pillow  cases  were  washed  and  ironed.  In  the 
matter  of  condemnation,  it  is  interesting  to  learn 
that  the  slightest  tear  or  stain  is  considered  sufficient 
cause.  These  figures  are  staggering  in  their  immens- 
ity, but  even  more  amazing  is  the  system  by  which 

[147] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

these  articles  are  provided,  changed,  washed, 
returned  in  traveling  hotels,  at  times  hundreds  of 
miles  removed  from  the  nearest  supply  station. 

In  the  oldtime  washroom  a  roller  towel  gave  satis- 
faction to  travelers  less  particular  than  those  of  the 
present  day.  But  now  how  things  have  changed. 
Two  million  seven  hundred  thousand  towels  are 
needed  to  supply  an  ever  increasing  demand.  Three 
hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  was  their 
cost  and  each  year  seventy  million  towels  is  the 
laundry  order.  When  Brown  has  shaved  in  the 
men's  washroom  in  good  American  style,  he  will 
probably  wipe  his  razor  on  a  towel.  It  is  not  his 
custom  at  home,  but  the  traveler  seems  to  have 
scant  respect  for  property.  That  one  little  cut  will 
destroy  the  towel  for  future  service.  Pullman  towels 
rarely  have  a  chance  to  wear  out.  Over  a  hundred 
thousand  a  year  are  condemned  chiefly  because  of 
such  usage,  and,  sad  to  relate,  each  year  over  half 
a  million  are  "  lost."  A  Pullman  towel  is  a  handy 
wrapping  for  a  pair  of  shoes,  but  the  annual  lost 
charge  amounts  to  nearly  seventy  thousand  dollars. 
It  is  a  charge  that  must  be  accepted  by  the  company. 
It  will  not  do  to  question  a  passenger's  integrity. 

[148] 


OPERATING  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

All  told,  the  investment  by  the  Pullman  Com- 
pany in  car  linen  amounts  to  $1,856,708.00, 
representing  6,597,714  separate  pieces.  And  this 
is  only  for  sleeping  and  parlor  cars  and  a  relatively 
sm.all  number  of  buffet  and  private  cars,  for  the 
company  no  longer  operates  the  diners.  To  provide 
new  linen  to  replace  the  lost  and  condemned  costs 
an  annual  sum  of  over  four  hundred  thousand 
dollars. 

But  the  quantities  and  the  cost  of  other  articles 
which  the  company  provides  are  even  more  impres- 
sive. These,  for  the  most  part,  are  expressions  of 
Pullman  service  over  and  above  the  service  itself, 
but  it  is  unquestionably  true  that  by  such  "over  and 
above"  service  is  the  whole  service  most  truly 
judged.  Who  would  think,  for  instance,  that  in  one 
year  5,819,656  women's  hats  were  protected  against 
dust  by  paper  bags  provided  by  the  porters.  And 
yet  these  paper  bags  represented  a  total  cost  of 
$14,549.00.  Smokers  in  the  same  period  consumed 
two  million  boxes  of  matches,  and  over  forty-two 
million  drinking  cups  costing  nearly  eighty  thousand 
dollars  gave  the  modern  touch  of  sanitation  to  the 
water  coolers.    Soap  would  naturally  be  considered 

[  149  ] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

an  essential  part  of  the  service,  but  a  soap  bill  for 
one  year  of  sixty  thousand  dollars  is  a  large  order 
for  cleanliness.  So,  too,  is  the  sum  of  $20,000  for 
hair  brushes  and  a  third  of  that  amount  for  combs. 

Back  in  the  dark  ages  of  blissful  ignorance  of 
germs,  railroad  coaches  were  hallowed  breeding 
places  for  sickness.  But  times  have  changed,  and 
today  it  is  a  pretty  safe  remark  to  make  that  the 
Pullman  car  is  more  healthful  than  almost  any  place 
where  people  frequently  congregate.  It  does  not 
take  many  gray  hairs  to  remember  the  days  of  sleep- 
ing cars  furnished  with  heavy  carpets  tacked  to 
wooden  floors,  of  stuffy  hangings,  and  plush 
upholstery,  of  fancy  woodwork  rife  with  cracks  and 
crannies,  and  of  washrooms  and  toilets  that  no 
amount  of  cleaning  could  ever  maintain  entirely 
innocuous. 

It  is  difficult  to  enumerate  the  countless  Uttle 
details  that  are  constantly  incorporated  into  Pull- 
man car  construction.  The  berth  light  has  been 
frequently  changed  to  embody  some  new  idea  to 
improve  its  convenience  and  efficiency.  The  coat 
hanger,  and  the  mirror  in  the  upper  berth  are  minor 
details,  but  their  convenience  is  attested  by  their 

[150] 


OPERATING  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

constant  use  by  passengers.  In  the  washrooms  the 
design  of  the  wash  basins  has  been  frequently 
altered  to  afford  a  more  convenient  resting  place 
for  the  toilet  articles  unpacked  from  the  traveler's 
bag.  Even  the  location  of  a  coat  hook  receives  a 
consideration  that  would  perhaps  seem  exaggerated 
to  the  casual  outsider.  Double  curtains  are  now 
provided  on  the  newer  cars,  one  set  for  the  lower 
and  another  set  for  the  upper  berth. 

Once  a  month  a  Committee  on  Standards,  com- 
posed of  the  higher  officials  of  the  company,  meets 
at  the  big  plant  at  Pullman.  On  a  track  near  the 
main  entrance,  stands  a  car  in  which  every  practical 
suggestion  has  been  incorporated  for  the  inspection 
of  the  committee.  Some  of  these  suggestions  are 
quickly  eliminated  by  their  experienced  verdict; 
others,  possessing  apparent  worthiness,  are  passed 
and  are  later  incorporated  in  the  construction  of 
the  next  cars  manufactured,  when  the  public  will 
become  the  final  judge.  Many  of  these  improve- 
ments are  of  a  technical  character,  and  primarily 
affect  the  construction  of  the  cars;  others  are  of  a 
more  directly  personal  nature  and  contribute  more 
to  the  comfort  and  convenience  of  the  traveler.    All 

[151] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 


that  are  passed  by  the  committee  serve  to  place 
still  higher  the  standard  that  for  fifty  years  has 
been  constantly  uplifted  by  the  company. 

As  a  car-building  material  wood  has  had  its  day, 
and  the  concrete  floor  of  the  Pullman  car  is  tacit 
tribute  to  the  sanitary  properties  of  a  widely  used 
material.  On  the  floor  of  concrete  the  familiar 
green  carpet  is  lightly  stretched  to  be  easily  removed 
at  the  journey's  end,  and  after  the  floor  has  been 
thoroughly  scrubbed,  returned  after  a  complete 
cleansing  with  vacuum  cleaners.  Instead  of  insani- 
tary woodwork,  the  smooth  surfaces  of  steel  which 
form  the  interior  of  the  car  offer  no  lurking  place 
for  germs,  and  soap  and  water  at  frequent  and 
regular  intervals  maintain  a  high  degree  of  cleanli- 
ness. Of  course,  the  porter  with  his  portable  vacuum 
cleaners  and  his  dustcloth,  can  keep  the  car  tidy  en 
route,  but  the  real  cleaning  comes  when  the  trip  is 
over  and  a  gang  of  professional  workers  with  every 
appliance  to  serve  this  end  attacks  the  cars.  Then 
not  only  are  the  carpets  renovated  but  the  prying 
nozzles  of  powerful  vacuum  cleaners  suck  up  every 
particle  of  dust  from  seats,  berths  and  cushions. 
Each  mattress  is  given  similar  treatment,  and  mat- 

[152] 


}\ 

IP, 

At  the  end  of  its  journey 
the  Pullman  car  is  thoroughly 
cleaned  and  disinfected.  The 
first  picture  on  this  page 
shows  the  bedding  being 
given  a  sun  bath.  The 
next,  the  appearance  of  the 
car  when  ready  for  fumi- 
gation, and  the  two  illus- 
trations at  the  bottom,  the 
vacuum     machine     at     work. 


OPERATING  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

tresses  and  pillows  are  hung  in  the  open  air  for  the 
action  of  that  greatest  of  all  purifiers,  the  sun. 
Blankets  are  given  a  similar  treatment.  Water 
coolers  are  cleaned  and  sterilized  with  steam.  In 
fact,  nothing  that  could  harbor  a  speck  of  dust  is 
neglected. 

The  slight,  acrid  odor  sometimes  noticeable  in  a 
Pullman  car  at  the  beginning  of  a  run  is  caused  by 
the  disinfectants  which  are  liberally  employed.  A 
jug  of  disinfectant  solution  is  a  part  of  the  equip- 
ment of  every  car  and  this  is  used  for  all  car  washing 
and  particularly  on  the  floors  and  in  the  toilet  and 
washrooms. 

To  protect  still  further  the  health  of  the  passen- 
gers, the  cars  are  regularly  fumigated  with  a  gas 
which  kills  all  disease-producing  bacteria.  When- 
ever a  car  has  carried  a  sick  person  it  is  fumigated 
as  soon  as  it  is  vacated,  in  addition  to  the  regular 
monthly,  weekly,  or  other  schedule  of  fumigation 
for  various  lines  and  terminals.  In  order  that  the 
district  offices  may  be  promptly  informed  as  to  the 
necessity  of  this  extra  fumigation,  the  conductor  is 
required  to  note  on  his  inspection  report  the  fact 
that  a  sick  passenger  has  been  carried,  and  the  car 
.     [153] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

is  immediately  taken  out  of  service  and  thoroughly 
cleaned  and  fumigated.  Moreover,  if  space  occu- 
pied by  a  sick  passenger  is  vacated  en  route,  it  must 
not  be  resold  until  the  car  has  reached  its  terminal 
and  has  been  fumigated. 

To  provide  the  necessary  facilities  for  car  clean- 
ing, the  company  maintains  a  cleaning  force  in 
two  hundred  and  twenty-five  principal  yards,  and, 
in  addition,  at  one  hundred  and  fifty-eight  outlying 
points.  These  yards  require  the  service  of  over  four 
thousand  cleaners. 

Stationed  throughout  the  United  States,  in  nearly 
every  city  of  prominence,  are  six  superintendents, 
thirty-nine  district  superintendents  and  thirty  agents. 
These  men  each  week  make  personal  inspection  of 
cars  in  operation  with  the  sole  purpose  of  keeping 
the  service  up  to  the  highest  standard.  In  addition, 
a  corps  of  electrical  and  mechanical  inspectors  con- 
stantly inspect  and  test  the  cars  and  their  devices, 
at  various  places,  and  another  corps  of  local  inspect- 
ors carefully  examine  every  departing  and  every 
incoming  train  with  particular  attention  to  the 
appearance  and  deportment  of  the  car  employees  and 
the  apparatus  for  heating,  lighting  and  water. 

[154] 


OPERATING  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

The  Pullman  Company  is  today  the  greatest  single 
employer  of  colored  labor  in  the  world.  Trained  as 
a  race  by  years  of  personal  service  in  various 
capacities,  and  by  nature  adapted  faithfully  to 
perform  their  duties  under  circumstances  which 
necessitate  unfailing  good  nature,  solicitude,  and 
faithfulness,  the  Pullman  porters  occupy  a  unique 
place  in  the  great  fields  of  employment.  There  are 
porters  who  for  over  forty  years  have  been  employed" 
by  the  company,  and  of  all  the  porters  employed,  an 
army  of  nearly  eight  thousand,  twenty-five  per  cent 
have  been  for  over  ten  years  in  continuous  service. 
The  reputation  of  any  company  depends  in  a  large 
measure  on  the  character  of  its  employees,  and  par- 
ticularly in  those  concerns  which  render  a  personal 
service  to  the  general  public  is  it  necessary  that  the 
standards  of  the  employees  be  exceptionally  high. 
Such  standards  of  personal  service  cannot  be  quickly 
developed;  they  can  be  achieved  only  through  years 
of  experience  and  the  close  personal  study  of  the 
wide  range  of  requirements  of  those  who  are  to  be 
served. 

To  inspire  in  the  car  employees,  conductors  as 
well  as  porters,  the  ambition  to  satisfy  and  please 

[155] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

the  passenger,  rewards  of  extra  pay  are  made  for 
unblemished  records  of  courtesy;  pensions  are  pro- 
vided for  the  years  that  follow  their  retirement  from 
active  service;  provision  is  made  for  sick  relief,  and 
at  regular  intervals  increases  in  pay  are  awarded 
with  respect  to  the  number  of  years  of  continuous 
and  satisfactory  employment. 

One  characteristic  of  the  Pullman  business  that  is 
peculiarly  significant  is  the  average  length  of  service 
of  the  employees.  In  a  general  way  it  may  truly 
be  said  that  from  the  car  porter  to  the  highest  official 
every  man  who  enters  the  business  enters  it  as  a  life 
work.  In  most  lines  of  business  there  is  a  variety 
of  concerns  operating  along  similar  lines,  and  it  is 
a  natural  step  for  a  man  to  pass  up  from  one  com- 
pany to  another.  But  the  unique  position  held  by 
the  Pullman  Company  has  eliminated  such  a  situa- 
tion, and  a  man  entering  its  employ  looks  forward 
to  a  personal  development  in  this  one  concern. 

During  the  half-century  which  has  seen  the  sure 
and  perfect  development  of  this  vast  and  compli- 
cated organization  it  is  but  natural  to  expect  among 
the  names  of  those  who  have  guided  its  destiny  many 
that  must  rank  high  in  the  business  history  of  the 

[156] 


JOHN  S.  RUNNELLS 
President  of  the  Pullman  Company 


OPERATING  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 


country.  A  glance  at  the  list  of  past  and  present 
Directors  of  the  company  confirms  the  expectation. 
Here  are  the  names  of  men  who  have  found  high 
places  in  a  variety  of  business  activities  not  only  in 
Chicago  but  in  other  great  cities.    The  list  includes : 


George   M.   Pull- 
man 
John  Crerar 
Norman  Williams 
Robert  Harris 
Thomas  A.  Scott 
Amos  T.  Hall 
C.  G.  Hammond 
J.  P.  Morgan 


Marshall  Field 
J.  W.  Doane 
H.  C.  Hulbert 
O.  S.  A.  Sprague 
Henry  R.  Reed 
Norman  B.  Ream 
William  K.  Van- 

derbilt 
John  S.  Runnells 


Frederick  W. 
Vanderbilt 
W.Seward  Webb 
Robert  T.  Lincoln 
Frank  O.Lowden 
John  J.  Mitchell 
Chauncey  Keep 
George  F.  Baker 
John  A.  Spoor 


In  this  same  period  but  three  men  have  occupied 
the  office  of  president:  George  M.  Pullman,  the 
founder  of  the  company,  who  held  office  from  1867, 
the  year  of  incorporation,  until  his  death  in  1897, 
and  Robert  T.  Lincoln  until  1911,  when  John  S. 
Runnells,  the  present  president,  was  elected. 

Pullman  service  has  revolutionized  the  method  of 
travel.  Night  has  been  abolished,  the  sense  of  dis- 
tance has  been  annihilated;  fatigue  has  been  reduced 
to  a  minimum.  In  the  oldest  districts  of  the  east, 
along  the  valleys  of  western  rivers,  on  the  wide- 

[157] 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PULLMAN  CAR 

spread  plains,  among  the  remote  peaks  of  the  Rockies, 
in  the  deserts  of  the  great  southwest,  the  Pullm_an 
car,  served  by  the  same  trained  employees,  furnishes 
the  same  comforts,  and  gives  the  same  nights'  repose. 
Improved  each  year  in  its  mechanical  construction, 
amplified  in  its  service,  better  served  by  its  attend- 
ants, it  has  set  a  high  standard  to  the  world  in  the 
development  of  railway  travel,  and  in  the  fifty  years 
of  its  development  it  has  contributed  more  to  the 
safety,  comfort,  convenience,  and  luxury  of  travelers 
than  any  other  similar  contribution  that  has  been 
given  to  mankind. 


InS] 


INDEX 


Berth  construction,  Mr.  Pull- 
man's new  and  radical,  99, 
100 

Boudoir  cars,  the  Mann,  intro- 
duced in  Europe,  64,  81 

Bygone  Days  in  Chicago,  its 
story  of  the  locating  of  the 
Pullman  shops,  91 

Chicago  Tribune,  the,  eulogy 
of  the  first  Pullman  cars,  46 

Cleaning  the  cars,  152-154 

Colebrookdale  Iron  Works, 
cast  the  first  rails,  4 

Construction  of  Pullman  cars, 
123-129 

Detroit  Commercial  Advertiser, 
the,  comments  of,  on  the 
hotel  car,  49 

Dining  car,  the  first  designed 
by  Mr.  Pullman,  52 ;  he  con- 
structs "  The  Delmonico," 
104;  railroads  adopt  the,  104; 
its  operation  given  up  by  the 
Pullman  Company,  105 

Electric  lighting  of  cars,  112- 
119;  in  England,  113-118 

England,  introduction  of  Pull- 
man cars  in,  61-63 ;  reception 
of  cars  in,  66;  "The  Pull- 
man Limited  Express,"  68, 
69;  electric  lighting  of  Pull- 
man cars  in,  113-118 

Erie  railroad,  gets  the  through 
Pullman  service,  78,  79,  82 

Europe,  the  Pullman  car  in, 
61-69 


Gates  Sleeping  Car  Company, 
competitor  of  the  Pullman 
Company,  75 

Gauge,  railway,  standardized, 
48 

Heating,  early,  22,  31 ;  by  loco- 
motive steam,  119 

Hotel  cars,  the  first  in  service, 
49>  50,  52,  103;  give  way  to 
the  diner,  104 

Illinois  Journal,  the,  comments 
on  the  first  Pullman  cars,  45 

Illinois  State  Register,  the,  de- 
scribes the  new  type  of  car, 
43,  44 

Knight  car,  used  on  eastern 
roads,  80 

Lighting,  31,  112;  the  Pintsch 
light,  82,  112;  electric,  112- 
119 

Linen,  requirements  to  supply 
the  cars,  147-149 

Locomotive,  the  beginnings  of 
the,  5-9;  the  American,  11, 
12 

London  Telegraph,  the,  com- 
ments on  the  dining  car,  67; 
on  the  introduction  of  elec- 
tric lighting  in  Pullman  cars, 
115,  116 


Flower  Sleeping  Car  Company, 
81 


Mann  Boudoir  Car  Company, 
incorporated,  81 ;  acquired  by 
the  Pullman  Company,  83 

Mann,  Colonel,  designs  a  sleep- 
ing car,  63;  his  "boudoir 
cars "  installed  in  Europe, 
64 ;  his  Company  acquired  by 
the  Pullman  Company,  83 

[1591 


INDEX 


Monarch  Sleeping  Car  Com- 
pany, competitor  of  the  Pull- 
man Company,  84 

Napoleon's  field  carriage,  2,  3 

Operation  of  the  Pullman  car, 
the,  133-158 

Parlor  car,  or  reclining  chair 
car,  the  first,  58 

Porter,  the,  of  the  Pullman  car, 
155,  156 

Presidents  and  directors  of  the 
Pullman  Company,  157 

Pullman,  A.  B.,  assistant  of  his 
brother,  George  M,,  47 

Pullman  car,  the  first  actual, 
32-34;  rise  of  the  great  in- 
dustry, 39-58 ;  first  trip  of,  to 
the  Pacific  coast,  53,  54;  first 
through  train  from  Atlantic 
to  Pacific,  54-57;  in  Europe, 
61-69;  shop  for  making, 
established  in  Turin,  65 ;  re- 
ception of  in  England,  66- 
69;  imitation  of,  and  compe- 
tition from  others,  73-85  ;  ac- 
quires the  Mann  and  Wood- 
ruff companies,  83 ;  wins  suits 
against  the  Wagner  Com- 
pany, 85 ;  rapid  expansion  of 
business,  89;  locates  new 
shops  at  Chicago,  89-93; 
berth  construction  for,  99, 
100;  vestibuled  trains  of, 
106-111;  electric  lighting  in, 
112-119;  heating  of,  by  loco- 
motive steam,  119;  how  the 
cars  are  made,  123-129;  the 
first  all-steel,  I23ff. ;  trucks 
for,  126;  fittings,  128;  oper- 
ation of  the,  133-158;  travel 
distances  possible  for,  136- 
139,  146;  tickets  sold  yearly, 
140;  linen  required  for,  147- 
149;  other  furnishings  for, 
149-151;  cleaning,  152-154; 
the  working  force,  154;  the 
porters,  155 

[I 


Pullman,  George  M.,  birth  and 
early  years,  24,  25  ;  first  activ- 
ities in  Chicago,  26,  27;  first 
sleeping-car  work,  28-32;  his 
first  Pullman  car,  32-34;  the 
second  car,  40;  incorporates 
the  Pullman  Palace  Car 
Company,  47;  his  purpose, 
48;  introduces  the  hotel  car, 
49;  the  first  dining  car,  52; 
visits  England,  61 ;  installs 
his  cars  there,  62,  66-69; 
establishes  shop  at  Turin,  65 ; 
puts  vestibule  trains  in  oper- 
ation, 84;  locates  new  shops 
at  Chicago,  89-93;  builds 
town  of  Pullman,  93-95 ;  his 
radical  changes  in  berth  con- 
struction, 99,  100 ;  introduces 
the  dining  car,  103-105;  in- 
vents the  vestibule  for  trains, 
106-110;  his  vision  and 
achievement,  135,  158;  pres- 
ident of  the  company  till  his 
death,  157 

Pullman  Palace  Car  Company, 
incorporated,  47;  establishes 
shops  in  Detroit,  57 ;  its  busi- 
ness, 137,  140,  141 ;  list  of 
directors  and  presidents,  157 

Pullman,  The  Story  of,  quoted, 
94,  95 

Pullman,  the  town  of,  89-95 

Railroad  Gazette,  the,  on  elec- 
tric lighting  of  trains,  113 

Railroad  restaurants,  the  old- 
time  service,  101-103 

Railroad  transportation,  birth 
of,  1-15 

Rails,  the  first  iron,  4 

Railway  Review,  the,  describes 
vestibuled  trains,  109,  no; 
on  trial  of  electric  lighting  in 
English  trains,  116-118 

Railways,  the  first  in  England, 
4-7 ;  in  America,  7-15  ;  change 
gauge  to  suit  Pullman  cars, 
48 
60  1 


INDEX 


Reclining  chair  car,   or  parlor 

car,  the  first,  58 
Repairs  and  repair  shor»s,  146 

Sleeping  car,  the  evolution  of 
the,  19-35;  the  early,  22,  23, 
99;  Mr.  Pullman's  first,  28- 
32;  rise  of  the  industry,  39- 

58 
Stagecoach,  the  English,  2-4,  6 
Steel,    the    first   all-,    Pullman 

cars,  I23fif. 
Stephenson,   George  and  Rob- 
ert,  and  the  first  steam  en- 
gines, 5,  7,  9 

Trans-Continental,  the  paper 
published  by  Pullman  car 
tourists  in  1870,  54 

Transportation,  birth  of  rail- 
road, 1-15 

Trevithick,  Richard,  experi- 
ments with  steam  locomotive, 
5 


Trucks,  the,  used  for  Pullman 

cars,  126 
"  Twenty  minutes  for  dinner," 

failure  of  the  system  of,  102, 

103 

Vanderbilts,  back  the  Wagner 

car,  76,  77,  §4,  85 
Vestibule    invented,    106,    107; 

vestibuled   trains    in   service, 

109;  trial  trip,  no;  welcomed 

in  Mexico,  in 

Wagner  Palace  Car  Company, 
competitor  of  the  Pullman 
Company,  76-79,  84;  loses  to 
the  Pullman  Company,  85 

Wagner,  Webster,  founder  of 
the  Wagner  Palace  Car  Com- 
pany, 76 

Woodruff  sleeping  car,  81 ;  ac- 
quired by  the  Pullman  Com- 
pany, 83 


[161] 


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